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GATE 2024 XH2 (English) – Question 61

History of English Literature and Literary Studies · Intersections of literature with political, social and intellectual movements · 2 marks · Multiple select

Politics
--by William Butler Yeats
‘In our time the destiny of man presents its meanings in political terms.’ --Thomas Mann

“How can I, that girl standing there,
My attention fix
On Roman or on Russian
Or on Spanish politics,
Yet here’s a travelled man that knows
What he talks about,
And there’s a politician
That has both read and thought,
And maybe what they say is true
Of war and war’s alarms,
But O that I were young again
And held her in my arms.”

Which of the following options is/are implied by this poem?

  1. Politics is the most absorbing concern of human existence.
  2. Desire has never distracted the speaker from politics.
  3. Sensual desire can be in conflict with cerebral concerns.
  4. Physical desire does not die with age.

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Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: (C) Sensual desire can be in conflict with cerebral concerns.; (D) Physical desire does not die with age.

Explanation

The old speaker cannot attend to politics because he is distracted by a young girl, and he wishes he were young again. So desire competes with intellectual concerns (C), and it is still alive in old age (D).