Andrew, I like your “irresolvable conflicts” idea. Yes, Yeats loves those dialectics of “self” and “soul,” and “hic” and “ille.”
Carolyn, it’s good to meet you. Hmn, did Yeats undergo some kind of early psychotherapy? I wouldn’t be surprised.
Ann, I like the “sword” as a symbol for a whole way of life. Frost collapses all government, commerce and religion into a “Sword”:
The Peaceful Shepherd
If heaven were to do again,
And on the pasture bars,
I leaned to line the figures in
Between the dotted stars,
I should be tempted to forget,
I fear, the Crown of Rule,
The Scales of Trade, the Cross of Faith,
As hardly worth renewal.
For these have governed in our lives,
And see how men have warred.
The Cross, the Crown, the Scales may all
As well have been the Sword.
Michael, thank you for bringing “Words” and “The Great Day” to mind. I do love Stevens’ epyllion “The Comedian as the Letter C”. Still, I am with you. Yeats keeps growing in my estimation, and Stevens has remained the same for a while now.
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Aaron Poochigian
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