Is Yeats (in these 7 poems) comfortable with not knowing? able to let the mysteries of life be, and not define and pin them to a page, solved at last?
"The Wild Swans at Coole"- Yeats has changed, but the swans have not. They are indefagitable, unwearied. But they will leave one day and delight another's eyes. It is the autumn of life and Yeats has changed, "all's changed since I, hearing at twilight, the first time on this shore, the bell-beat of their wings above my head, trod with a lighter tread." Yeats walks heavier, perhaps because his heart has grown old with passion and conquest, unlike the swans' hearts.
"Lines Written In Dejection"- here is Yeats again, looking upon a favored scene- the moon- and lamenting that all of the mystery and magic have vanished now that he is fifty years old. All of the imaginings of childhood- the witches on broomsticks, the centaurs- have vanished and left him to face the day without the armor of myth and story. The sun has shed light on the imaginings of childhood and uncloaked the moon, leaving Yeats un-storied to face the day.
"An Image From A Past Life"- A woman imagines an image of her lover's former sweetheart as they gaze into a stream and covers his eyes so that he cannot see the image. He doesn't know why see is so distressed, after all, he is hers, he is right there at her shoulder, how could he be fonder of an image than of her? She does not know, but she is afraid of this image. In this poem we see that Yeats is comfortable with leaving the reader with the mystery of love and jealousy. He leaves us as he leaves the woman, guessing at her fear.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
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