Easter 1916 By William Yeats “Easter 1916” is a poem by William Yeats that pertains to Irish nationalists revolting against the British Empire. Yeats uses a stream in the poem to represent Britain and its constant rush on the Irish rebels. He uses a stone embedded in the stream that causes steady disruption and chaos of the flowing water. Hearts with one purpose alone Through summer and winter seem Enchanted to a stone To trouble the living stream (932) In the above excerpt Yeats applies personification to the stream to hint to the reader that it is a force and lives animately, instead of just being water. In interpreting this quote ‘hearts wi