[Gondring]

But Ari... Yeats would be puzzled by the use of his poem thus--as the intemperate views expressed herein were the exact opposite of his wish.

In some of the most famous words ...
...the centre cannot hold...
...he fears an extremist reaction to an extreme.

He warns against allowing the moderate to lose out to those who react in fear. Yes, we are in times as troublesome as his...let's not let ourselves plunge.

Fight the beast I will..but not at the cost of ourselves.

[ariamne]

My reading of Yeats was that this poem was a response to the creeping totalitarianism that alarmed him.

But truly, I don't think being vigilant in the protection of your homeland is reacting in fear. Fear is not what motivates many of us, it's love for our families, our homeland. It's all in the interpretation. Have a good night,

Ari