No Second Troy

“No Second Troy” plays with a longstanding literary motif between fire, heat, and passion. The connection draws from ancient beliefs in bodily humors, or fluids, which were believed to determine a person’s temperament or personality. Based on these theories, women were believed to be cold and wet, while men were hot and dry. Too much heat, in a female, was considered dangerous, as it could cause anger, ambition, and irrational behavior.

While the humoral theory was long discredited by the time of Yeats’s writing, its conclusions became part of common folk knowledge and created phrases like “burning passion.” Yeats’s speaker draws on these ancient ideas when they rhyme “fire” (Line 7) and “desire” (Line 5), emphasizing the deep connection between the element and the beloved’s drive. Similarly, when the speaker asks “[w]hat could have made [the woman] peaceful” (Line 6) when her mind is “simple as a fire” (Line 7), they suggest that a mind made like “fire” (Line 7) is inherently violent and ambitious.

Troy is an ancient city located in present-day Turkey. The city is known as the site of the mythological Trojan War, which is featured most famously in Homer’s Iliad. In “No Second Troy,” Yeats uses Troy as a symbol to help mythologize the modern-day love affair the poem depicts, comparing his beloved to Helen of Troy and the Trojan conflict she inspired.