Use of Symbols in Yeatss Work, A Vision Essay - 3300 Words

Use of Symbols in Yeatss Work, A Vision In his 1901 essay Magic, Yeats writes, I cannot now think symbols less than the greatest of all powers whether they are used consciously by the masters of magic, or half unconsciously by their successors, the poet, the musician and the artist (p. 28). Later, in his introduction to A Vision, he explains, I put the Tower and the Winding Stair together into evidence to show that my poetry has gained in self possession and power. I owe this change to an incredible experience (Vision p.8). The experience he goes on to relate is the preliminary stage of the composition of the work itself. In A Vision, however, Yeats exhibits his poetic power as well, along with his knowledge of†¦show more content†¦He then adds numbers to the symbol, corresponding to the phases of the moon, and is able to use them to designate every possible action of thought or life. He places these in a circular shape. The whole system, Yeats writes is founded upon the belief that the ultimate reality, sy mbolized by the sphere, falls in human consciousness... into a series of antinomies (Vision p. 187). The Byzantium poems are a prime example of the antinomies at work in the individual mind of man. In many of his poems, Yeats idealizes Byzantium, as a symbol of unity in spiritual and everyday life. He writes I think that in early Byzantium, maybe never before or since in recorded history, religious, aesthetic and practical life were one, that architect and artificers... spoke to the few and the multitude alike. The painter and the mosaic worker, the worker in gold and silver, the illuminator or sacred books, were almost impersonal, almost perhaps without the consciousness of individual design, absorbed in their subject-matter and that the vision of a whole people (Vision p. 279). Sailing to Byzantium expresses Yeats longing to become a part of Byzantine art, to return to life as a golden bird, who transcends the temporality of the natural world. However, he isShow MoreRelatedAnalysis on To Ireland in the Coming Times1608 Words   |  7 Pagesintroduced him to automatic writin g and from there he was able to write â€Å"A Vision† (1925). In 1922 Yeats received an honorary degree from Trinity College in Dublin, at this time the Irish civil war had started. That same year he was given a seat in the Irish senate, where he remained for 6 years before resigning due to failing health. The following year in December of 1923 Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize for his literary works. In 1939 on January 28th at the age of seventy-three Yeats died. Yeats legacyRead More The Feminine in William Butler Yeats Poetry Essay1716 Words   |  7 Pagesmany different and multi-layered levels. The mentions of women in his work gives the readers some historical content as well as show the development of his feminine idea. As different as his many relationships with women were, so was his reflection of them in his writing. Yeats took people he knew and transformed them into images and patterns of order (Unterecker 12). In this case, it is important to notice Yeatss use of biography within his poetry. In 1889, Yeats was introduced to MaudRead MoreAnalysis Of A Prayer For My Daughter1299 Words   |  6 Pagesgreatest of mankind Consider most to magnify, or to bless, But take our greatness with bitterness? (Yeats 110). As David A. Ross writes in his book, Critical Companion to William Butler Yeats: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, ancestral houses were â€Å"perpetual symbols of tradition, ceremony, and aristocratic strength of character† (Ross 45) for Yeats. The anxieties about his ancestral line and preservation of high culture that plagued Yeats in his later years are best illustrated in the poemRead More W.B. Yeats and History Essay1729 Words   |  7 Pages(his love for the woman, Maude Gonne, and his desire to advance the Irish Cultural Nationalist movement) provide Yeats with the foundation upon which he identifies his own limitations. In his love poetry, he not only expresses his love for Gonne, he uses his verse to influence her feelings, attempting to gain her love and understanding. In regard to the Nationalists, he incorporates traditional Irish characters, such as Fergus and the Druids, to create an Irish mythology and thereby foster a nationalRead MoreWho Goes with Fergus11452 Words   |  46 Pageslater poem Yeats says the tower is â€Å"half dead at the top.† If we see the tower as an individual, as a source of knowledge, this would seem to imply that there is no more original thought there. If, on the other hand , we see the tower as a phallic symbol, it has become impotent. posted by:Kurdish guy, B.A.M From college of language(Hawler)2010. As Yeats matures in life, the focus goes from what the wotld is doing and what he can do. In other words, he focuses on the meaning of his life, this is shownRead More Comparing T S Eliots The Wasteland and William Butler Yeats The Second Coming2980 Words   |  12 PagesS. Eliots The Wasteland and William Butler Yeats The Second Coming       World War One fundamentally changed Europeans perspective on man. Before the war they believed that man was innately good, after it people were disenchanted with this vision of man. Both Thomas Sterns Eliot and William Butler Yeats keenly felt this disenchantment, and evinced it in their poetry. In addition to the war, Eliot and Yeats also saw the continuing turmoil in Europe, such as the Russian Revolution and the IrishRead MoreYeatss Interest in Rhythm2333 Words   |  9 Pagesand asleep, which is the one moment of creation, by hushing us with an alluring monotony, while it holds us waking by variety, to keep us in that state of perhaps real trance, in which the mind liberated from the pressure of the will is unfolded in symbols. (W.B. Yeats) What light does this comment of Yeats’ shed on his poetry? Feel free in your answer to concentrate on poetic devices other than rhythm if you prefer. Yeats’ interest in rhythm was deeply tied to the notion of the sound of the earthRead MoreEssay about An Analysis of Yeats The Second Coming1825 Words   |  8 Pagesreading of the poem, combined with some simple genetic work, shows that Yeats saw the new order as a reign of terror haunted by war. The Second Coming, in its entirety, is an astounding encapsulation of Yeats idea of the gyre and his fears about the future of mankind; it is expertly woven with threads of prophetic literary reference and impressive poetic techniques. To begin, the gyre, a spiral or repeated circling motion, is a symbol and a concept that Yeats used repeatedly in his poetry andRead MorePoems with Theme with Life and Death and Their Analysis8446 Words   |  34 Pagesnoteworthy are studied and analysed in terms of themes. Different opinions of different poets on life and death found in their poems are also presented and contrasted in this paper. This paper will be of use and help to the learners of English. Introduction: To many, Death creates uncertainty and fear. It seems we shall never meet again. But the poets remind us of the essential truths of life, death and immortality. 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