On the Use of Symbolism in Yeats’Works

（鄭州航空工業管理學院，河南 鄭州 450046）

【Abstract】： William Butler Yeats （1865-1939） was an Irish poet， dramatist， mystic and public figure. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923 for what the Nobel Committee described as “his always inspired poetry， which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation”. This thesis aims to study Yeats’s poetic thinking from several aspects mainly through the discussion of the different metaphorical meanings of “rose”， a common theme in Yeats’s poems.

【Key words】： symbolism； love poetry； Yeats’ poetic thinking； image

Ⅰ. Symbolism in Yeats’ works： the image of rose

In his early poems， there is always a faint glimmer of sadness， grief-wan， and strokes. The rose is a recurrent subject and image in Yeats’ works. Furthermore， the poet consciously divided the rose into two categories， the red rose and the white rose， as in “To the Rose upon the Rood of Time” and “The Wandering of Oisin”

The red rose and the white rose form a typical pair to show antitheticality. To Yeats， roses with different colors may carry different meanings.

In the earlier poetry the white-rose-like moon obviously gains the upper hand over the crimson sun. The sun is sinking and fading， clouds piling up on it. Later， however， the day is coming and the pale-rose-like moon is summoned to “wither away”. It shows the interactive process between the opposing forces is taking place continually. Sometimes during the confrontation one side is winning， while at the next moment the situation might be the contrary. （Zhugang， 2001）

In Yeats’ view， roses are divided into two categories： damask roses and what compared to those turns out to be “other roses”. He felt definitely inappropriate to cover graves with the damask roses， which are “Like crimson meteors hang in the gloom”.

Ⅱ. A rose of love： love and Yeats’ poetic thinking

1. Love motif in Yeats’ love poetry

Love is generally regarded as one of the fundamental elements that constitute lyric works， love in Yeats’ life influenced， in one way or another， his poetic thinking； in return， it is reflected in his poetry and in his poetic symbolism.

First， a mere overview of the titles of Yeats’ early poems could show his passionate concentration on the love motif. “To the Rose upon the Rood of Time”， by employing an Irish cultural symbol of rose and cross， praises love and beauty while contemplating their relationship to the passage of time. Second， Yeats’ unrequited love stamps a mark of frustration and sorrow on his early love poetry. The frustrating complexity of the relationship contributed elements of blame， accusation， guilt and self-condemnation to his poetry. In “Ephemera” Yeats presents a dialogue between lovers whose love is “waning”， when they are pacing among “faded” leaves.

Third， Yeats in his early volumes treated his love in a considerably idealizing way. He attempted to make the unrequited love into an archetype of beauty， based on the very unattainability that resulted from it. Besides， he tended to build the beloved woman image into a perfect， pious， and saint one.

2. Love and Yeats’ symbolism

Love has always been an important subject in Yeats’ poetry. Being a noteworthy symbolist poet， Yeats was accustomed to and skillful in expressing love by his symbolist techniques.

At the beginning Yeats related the love subject with beautiful imagery. He focused his writing on Gonne’s physical charm. Gradually Yeats came to feel the need to treat the love subject with more artistic approach. He therefore employed abstract images to refer to the whole beauty.

Now the poet， grown physically and intellectually mature， began to make his poetry seem to be more objective and refined. （Fuhao， 1999， 41-49）

Maud Gonne is also associated with a tree in Yeats’ verse. “The Two Trees” was inspired by his fear that Gonne’s natural vitality might be corrupted by political dogmatism. In the Celtic culture， the tree is the symbol of life. Besides， Gonne is the source of Yeats’ swan symbol. The swan image first emerged in his poetry during his middle period， when his collection The Swans at Coole was published. In “The White Birds”， the white birds are intended to be excused from misery of time and sorrow.

Ⅲ. Conclusion

As is known to all， Yeats’ poetic thinking is a complexity out of a variety of influences and out of his own originality. Love drastically influenced Yeats’ writing， acting as his source that contributed considerably to the development of his symbolism. The effects of symbols could be reflected through not only the image of the rose， but the image of the swan， birds and so on.

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