The Tables of the Law; & The Adoration of the Magi E-Book

W.b.yeats

• Herausgeber: DigiCat
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

In "The Tables of the Law; & The Adoration of the Magi," W. B. Yeats presents a rich tapestry of poetry that interweaves mythology, philosophy, and the spiritual tumult of the modern age. The collection is marked by Yeats's characteristic blend of lyricism and dramatic narrative, exploring the intersections of ancient wisdom and contemporary existential dilemmas. Rooted in a literary context that engages with both the Symbolist movement and Irish nationalism, the poems reflect Yeats's profound belief in the transformative power of art and the metaphysical, inviting readers to ponder the nature of truth, morality, and the divine through a symbolic lens reminiscent of medieval allegory. W. B. Yeats, a towering figure of 20th-century literature and a key player in the revival of Irish culture, drew heavily on his deep interest in mysticism, folklore, and occult traditions while crafting this work. His philosophical engagements with theosophy and his role in the Irish Literary Revival instilled in him a sensitivity towards the metaphysical undercurrents of life and history, which prominently pervades the verses within this collection. Such backgrounds illuminate his exploration of human desire and spiritual yearning. This book is essential for readers interested in the confluence of mysticism and literature, as it offers a unique glimpse into Yeats's introspective quest for meaning amidst chaos. Readers seeking to understand the depth of human experience through Yeats's visionary framework will find "The Tables of the Law; & The Adoration of the Magi" both enlightening and deeply resonant.

Leseprobe

W. B. Yeats

The Tables of the Law; & The Adoration of the Magi

 

EAN 8596547124481

DigiCat, 2022 Contact: [email protected]

Table of Contents

THE TABLES OF THE LAW; & THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI

THE TABLES OF THE LAW

I

II

THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI

THE TABLES OF THE LAW; & THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI

Table of Contents

Five hundred and ten copies printed; type distributed.No. 311

THE TABLES OF THE LAW; & THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI

BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

THE SHAKESPEARE HEAD PRESS STRATFORD-UPON-AVON MCMXIV

THE TABLES OF THE LAW

Table of Contents

THE TABLES OF THE LAW

I

Table of Contents

'Will you permit me, Aherne,' I said, 'to ask you a question, which I have wanted to ask you for years, and have not asked because we have grown nearly strangers? Why did you refuse the berretta, and almost at the last moment? When you and I lived together, you cared neither for wine, women, nor money, and had thoughts for nothing but theology and mysticism.' I had watched through dinner for a moment to put my question, and ventured now, because he had thrown off a little of the reserve and indifference which, ever since his last return from Italy, had taken the place of our once close friendship. He had just questioned me, too, about certain private and almost sacred things, and my frankness had earned, I thought, a like frankness from him.

When I began to speak he was lifting to his lips a glass of that old wine which he could choose so well and valued so little; and while I spoke, he set it slowly and meditatively upon the table and held it there, its deep red light dyeing his long delicate fingers. The impression of his face and form, as they were then, is still vivid with me, and is inseparable from another and fanciful impression: the impression of a man holding a flame in his naked hand. He was to me, at that moment, the supreme type of our race, which, when it has risen above, or is sunken below, the formalisms of half-education and the rationalisms of conventional affirmation and denial, turns away, unless my hopes for the world and for the Church have made me blind, from practicable desires and intuitions towards desires so unbounded that no human vessel can contain them, intuitions so immaterial that their sudden and far-off fire leaves heavy darkness about hand and foot. He had the nature, which is half monk, half soldier of fortune, and must needs turn action into dreaming, and dreaming into action; and for such there is no order, no finality, no contentment in this world. When he and I had been students in Paris, we had belonged to a little group which devoted itself to speculations about alchemy and mysticism. More orthodox in most of his beliefs than Michael Robartes, he had surpassed him in a fanciful hatred of all life, and this hatred had found expression in the curious paradox—half borrowed from some fanatical monk, half invented by himself—that the beautiful arts were sent into the world to overthrow nations, and finally life herself, by sowing everywhere unlimited desires, like torches thrown into a burning city. This idea was not at the time, I believe, more than a paradox, a plume of the pride of youth; and it was only after his return to Ireland that he endured the fermentation of belief which is coming upon our people with the reawakening of their imaginative life.