Easter, 1916 Easter, 1916 Easter, 1916 is a poem by W. B. Yeats describing the poet's torn emotions regarding the events of the Easter Rising staged in Ireland against British rule on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916. The uprising was unsuccessful, and most of the Irish republican leaders involved were executed for treason. The poem was written between May and September 1916, but first published in 1921 in the collection "Michael Robartes and the Dancer". Even though a committed nationalist, Yeats usually rejected violence as a means to secure Irish independence, and as a result had strained relations with some of the
Easter Rising to be hopeless, they dispersed on Saturday morning. Many went home and were arrested following the rising, while others, including Mellows, went "on the run". By the time British reinforcements arrived in the west, the rising there had already disintegrated. The Easter Rising resulted in at least 485 deaths, according to the Glasnevin Trust. Of those killed: More than 2,600 were wounded; including at least 2,200 civilians and rebels, at least 370 British soldiers and 29 policemen. All 16 police fatalities and 22 of the British soldiers killed were Irishmen. About 40 of those killed were children (i.e. under 17