The Journey of Innocence to Wisdom
William Butler Yeats is an exceptionally well-known poet, for he wrote many eloquent and
evocative poems that resonate differently within one’s core based upon each reader’s
personal experiences that led to that particular interpretation. “The Stolen Child” is one of
Yeats’s early poems, coming from Crossways, which amalgamates Irish mythology as it
pertains to childhood in juxtaposition with the modern world. The main idea, or theme, of
this poem is the battle between maintaining the innocence of one’s childhood versus the
obligations and duties of having to exist and participate in the realities of life. One of
Yeats’s poems from The Green Helmet and Other Poems includes, “The Coming of
Wisdom with Time”. This corresponds immensely with “The Stolen Child” based upon a
few things, one of them being the main ideology or theme. This poem includes the harsh
realities that one faces when s/he grows older, in response to the sweet ignorant bliss that
is allowed and protected in youth. Yeats’s poems “The Stolen Child” and “The Coming of
Wisdom with Time” are incredibly complex and provocative to the ideas or themes that as
one grows older the loss of innocence and a sense of responsibility settles upon that
person, along with the lesson or goal that this ignorance should be cherished as long as one
is able to remain oblivious to the surrounding world through using different types of
literary technique, which impacts each audience member differently.
Protecting innocence and reflecting upon a particular time of innocence along with the
