I could not determine whether this was coincidentally planed or just a coincidence.
Most of the rhyme that occurs in Yeats" "Easter1916" is end rhyme. Yeats uses many types of end rhyme though; He blends a unique mixture of end rhyme, perfect rhyme, consonance, and assonance. This rhyme is very easy to read and gives the poem an appealing flow. "So sensitive his nature seemed, So Daring and sweet his thought, This other man I had dreamed, A drunken, vainglorious lout." In the ABAB scheme the first and third and the second and fourth lines contain rhyme. Seemed and dreamed are examples of perfect rhyme, which occurs often in "Easter 1916." Thought and lout are examples of assonance. The "ou" sound occurs in both words. Assonance is also common in the poem. .
The first Stanza of the poem opens with the line "I have met them at close of day." I believe that this line refers to Yeats knowing the Revolutionaries of the uprising. Yeats also writes about his conversations with them as "meaningless words" and everyday conversation. This first stanza shows how Yeats is not directly involved with the uprising because he does not converse much with its participants. The final line of the first stanza "A terrible beauty is born" foreshadows the terrible events to come.
The second matter seems to address matters closer to the writer's heart. The footnotes refer to other poems and Pegasus, sometimes a used for poetic inspiration. There is also a reference to a Major who married the woman Yeats was in love with. Major MacBride's demise is shown in the lines "He, too, has resigned his part, In this casual comedy." The death of Macbride is still seen by Yeats as a "terrible beauty.".
The third stanza introduces the element of nature to the poem. There are also symbolisms for battle and death present in this stanza. "Minute by minute they charge" is how Yeats describes the animals running, which can be a symbolism for a battle charge.
