A Fanatic Heart: Geldof On Yeats

W. B. Yeats is chiefly remembered for writing THE poem commemorating the Easter 1916 uprising. In "Easter 1916" he refers to the idea of "a terrible beauty is born," a line as complex as it is memorable.

Written and presented by Bob Geldof, A FANATIC HEART went some way towards explaining Yeats's complex personality, and thereby helping us to understand what the poem actually signifies. Born to a Protestant family, Yeats grew up in an environment dogged by poverty yet enlivened by artistic creativity; his brother Jack was a famous artist and Olympic medalist. Yeats spent much of his formative years roaming the Irish landscape, and by doing so discovered some of its enduring significance embodied in its myths and legends. The past inevitably held sway over the present, and it was important to acknowledge one's heritage. Hence Yeats became part of the movement seeking independence from Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This is an important point to bear in mind; for many of us the 1916 rebellion is inevitably identified with Pearse, Connolly and all those Roman Catholic nationalist rebels who took over Dublin's General Post Office and proclaimed Irish independence. Yet there was also a substantial group of Protestants seeking similar objectives - not through violent means, but through legislation, especially the Home Rule bill. The British government had agreed to pass it, but the act had been put on hold for the duration of World War One. Yeats was one of those seeking to restore it to the forefront of the agenda.

When confronted with the fact of the uprising, Yeats was doubtful whether it made a lasting contribution to Irish independence. Hence the use of the oxymoron "terrible beauty" in the poem - while it might be wonderful to see Irish men and women taking to the streets to resist the colonial power, their action was accomplished at a great human cost. Over two hundred and fifty civilians died during the six days of the rebellion.

While Yeats was eventually to become a member of the new government set up after 1922, he was seldom happy in his post. For him it seemed that Ireland was becoming subject to a restrictive Roman Catholic regime that stifled rather than promoted creative thinking and/or dissent. Always an opponent of the premier Eamon de Valera, he resigned from the government and spend the rest of his days as a celebrated poet.

Geldof obviously had a great enthusiasm for his subject, as well as an enduring resentment of what had happened to Ireland since 1922. The country might have achieved independence, but at what cost? Sometimes Geldof's script seemed a little florid in tone, with his talent for words running away with him somewhat, but this shortcoming was offset by his willingness to find out more about his subject. This was not just about Yeats, but Geldof himself.

A documentary that I first caught on my a flight back home and at a point where my emotions ruled my mind.......not that things have changed. When you analyse on things one likes, and that which instantly connects with you from within, just makes you understand yourself better. After all we in our lifetime if you carefully think can connect to very few things from our deep heart.

Not that to start with I was a big fan of WB Yeats, now may be I am. More that i love the way Bob Geldof has understood the Poet and made this filmatic poetry. For a poet to be remembered like this is worth the pain that might have led him to write. What connects with me is a poet being remembered as who gave an identity to a country. A poet and a nationalist, what a contradicting combination just the way my personal interests go. I have a new-found respect for him and his work, knowing that he worked to give an identity to a country.

Fanatic hearts are we, who with our imperfections still romanticize everything in and around us ....... words, feelings, the abstract or even a nation.

Geldof weaves it magically in quotes that just touches me deep within

Dying is easy, staying alive is hard Death is inevitable not radical You can die for a cause, but live for a reason Man who wrote some of the greatest love poems imagined, did not understand what love was Being Irish in the English Language Great families are better than governments Nailing his Nationalism to the mast Mad Ireland hurt you into Poetry That's Yeats country Everything begins in Yeats and everything ends in Yeats for Irish Identity Yeats is in our(Irish) DNA A Permanent Adolescent

A Fanatic Heart: Geldof On Yeats (2016) was directed by Gerry Hoban.

Bob Geldof is quite a character. He's a musician, humanitarian, and political activist. He's also, obviously, a lover of W.B. Yeats' poetry. Geldof is the glue that holds this film together. He's basically our guide through the movie. However, he's in good company.

John Boorman, Stephen Fry, Van Morrison, and Liam Neeson all read Yeats' poems. (All but Morrison are very good at it, as is Geldof himself.)

I've just started to learn about W.B. Yeats, which I say with some embarrassment. He is one of the greatest poets of the 20th Century. He's considered the greatest Irish poet, which is saying something, because Ireland is a land where poetry is an important art form.

After you've seen this movie, you'll know more about the life of W.B. Yeats, and you will have heard many of his poems.

A Fanatic Heart was made for the small screen, so it works very well on DVD. This isn't a movie for everyone, but it's much better than the IMDb rating it has of 6.6. (Actually, only 16 people rated it, so the number of raters is too small to be meaningful.)

If you're interested in Ireland, Irish culture, and the poetry of W.B. Yeats, you should seek out this movie and see it. If Irish culture and poetry leave you cold, this isn't the film for you.