Student Scholarship

Document Type

Research Paper

Abstract

This critical study examines the poetic trajectory of W. B. Yeats, focusing on the tension and continuity between his early romanticism and the starker, more complex works of his later years. The author argues that Yeats' development was not a disowning of his past but a transformation achieved by exploring consistent symbols in evolving contexts. Central to this evolution is the image of the heart and the holy tree, which shifts from the trembling flowers of his youth to the foul rag-and-bone shop of his old age. The text explores how Yeats hammered his thoughts into unity, creating a body of work where individual poems are illuminated by their place within his larger aesthetic system. 

A significant portion of the study is dedicated to Yeats' unique philosophical and occult beliefs, including his theory of the mask and the anti-self. The author explains that for Yeats, poetry is born from the quarrel with the self, requiring the artist to deliberately assume an opposite persona to achieve creative energy. This system was further codified in his work A Vision, which provided a metallurgical and historical framework involving the phases of the moon and the Great Wheel. These concepts allowed Yeats to interpret history and personality as predestined cycles, leading to the apocalyptic imagery found in poems like The Second Coming. 

The study also situates Yeats within the context of Irish nationalism and his personal relationships, particularly with Maud Gonne and Lady Gregory. It details how his interactions with the physical world and the Irish landscape provided a necessary solidity to his later verse, reconciling the immediate with the ultimate. Ultimately, the author suggests that Yeats' greatness lies in his ability to maintain a leaping vitality and an old man's frenzy even when faced with the tragedy of a dying culture and the absurdity of age.

Research Highlights

  • The Problem: Identifying the underlying continuity and dramatic transformations in W. B. Yeats' poetic development by analyzing his evolving use of core symbols and philosophical systems. 

  • The Method: A critical study performing comparative textual analysis of early and late poems, including "The Two Trees," "Among School Children," and "Sailing to Byzantium," alongside an examination of Yeats’ prose works, occult practices, and the metaphysical system detailed in A Vision. 

  • Qualitative Finding: Yeats utilized a "doctrine of the mask" and a cyclic theory of history to reconcile personal tragedy with universal spiritual realities; the "holy tree" symbol evolved from an image of youthful joy into a complex embodiment of the "rag-and-bone shop of the heart"; his later poetry achieved a "tragic joy" by balancing the "sensual music" of the physical world with the "artifice of eternity" found in symbols like Byzantium. 

  • Finding: The totality of Yeats' work forms a consciously shaped unity where individual poems gain significance through their placement within his developing personality and his "remaking" of the self. 

Publication Date

5-1969

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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