Yeats's 'When You Are Old' and Plath's 'Daddy': form, voice and context

What this note covers

1. Two very different kinds of loss: situating Yeats and Plath
2. Yeats's 'When You Are Old': Celtic Revival romanticism and unattainable love
3. Plath's 'Daddy': confessional poetry and the shock of extremity
4. Form and sound: measured quatrains versus incantatory nursery rhyme
5. Voice and address: the listening beloved and the exorcised father
6. Worked example: turning direct address into an analytical paragraph
7. How Question 1a examines this pairing and what separates a top response

7 sections · 11 key terms & formulas · 6 common mistakes