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
History of Sinn Féin in the Easter Rising, despite being blamed by the British Government for it. The leaders of the Rising were looking for more than the Sinn Féin proposal of a separation stronger than Home Rule under a dual monarchy. Any group that disagreed with mainstream constitutional politics was branded 'Sinn Féin' by British commentators. Later in 1916, surviving members of the Rising led by Éamon de Valera joined and took control of the party. De Valera replaced Griffith as president. The party nearly split between its monarchist and republican wings at its 1917 Ard Fheis (conference) until a compromise motion was