A Summary of the Svmbols in the Four Themes bv Yeats

田明

摘要：葉芝是諾貝爾文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)的獲得者，而且第一位詩人獲得者。他是象征文學(xué)流派的領(lǐng)軍人物。在過去的一百年中，他始終處于文學(xué)中心位置。象征使葉芝的詩歌充滿了無窮的魅力，而他的象征體系則由“人類命運(yùn)”,“生與死”,“愛情”和“愛爾蘭之情”組成。本文將分上下兩部分對(duì)葉芝的四大象征主題進(jìn)行總結(jié)。

Part Two

3. The Summary of the Symbols in the Theme of Love by Yeats

Love can be found all through Yeats poetic careers. His profound feelings for Maud Gonne moved the whole world. He wooed to her again and again but he got the mitten again and again, which made him write out a series of heart-touching and heart-breaking poems. Because of political reason, Gonne finally cut off Yeats passion for her. The poet was unfortunate, but the readers of the world are fortunate.

Many a time Yeats recalled the moment when he first met with Gonne. The moment changed all his life. From the moment, he wrote out a lot of poems which readers couldnt tear themselves away with. In the poem The Arrow, the arrow symbolizes love. The arrow is thrust into the marrow, which shows Gonnes beauty and charm. The “apple blossom” symbolizes Gonne, which makes her beauty imaginable and unimaginable as well. During this period, Yeats poems were mostly about the relations between Gonne and him. In his poems, rose that universally symbolizes the beloved only refers to Gonne. Upon Gonne Yeats piled the most beautiful sentences and the most beautiful symbols that he could find.

But Gonne was a very firm Irish nationalist devoting all herself to the movement for the Irish independence. Politics was the sole standard with which she judged a man. After being refused by Gonne many times, Yeats no longer used rose to symbolize Gonne. In the poem A Woman Homer Sung, the symbol for Gonne became Helen, a woman who was extremely pretty and for whom Troy City was occupied by the opponents. Yeats thought the two were very beautiful but they were destructive.

No matter how Yeats dissuaded her, Gonne didnt hear of him. Seeing her determination for politics was so firm, Yeats knew it was impossible for him to gain love from her. In the poem The People, Gonne first appears as “Phoenix.” Phoenix is the symbol of undying and rebirth or some one who is very beautiful. Yeats mentioned nothing of love in the poem, which showed that Yeats had lowered his desire to seek love from Gonne. The change of symbol meant that Yeats had changed his love for Gonne into friendship.

In spite of the change of the symbol for Gonne, Yeats passion for her was not changeable. The poem When You Are Old moves all reader to tears. Reader cant put down the poem when finishing reading the last word of it. “The glowing bars” symbolizes the fire of love that will never die. “Your pilgrims soul” refers to Gonnes determination to fight for the Irish independence as firm as a rock. The whole poem is the symbol of love that the real love for a person is unconditional whether she is young or old, pretty or ugly.

4. The Summary of the Symbols in the Theme of Ireland by Yeats

The root of Yeats was in Ireland. But his Anglo-Irish identity once made him very embarrassed and frustrated. Under the guidance of OLeary, Yeats set his themes on Ireland. With the support and encouragement of Lady Gregory, Yeats was wholly devoted to the revival of the Irish culture. Between his poetic lines, OLeary is the symbol of the unity of the nation, Lady Gregory, with her noble qualities, symbolizes Ireland and the Irish spirits. John Butler Yeats is also the symbol of the Irish spirits. Parnell is the symbol of fairness and justice. The name “Robert” is the symbol of hero and selflessness in the poem An Irish Airman Foresees His Death. This hero gave his life for Britain that he didnt like, which showed one of the traits of the Irish nation. His sacrifice made the British colonists ashamed for their brutal treatment to the Irish people.

Yeats was moved by the heroes around him. Through his art creation, the heroes live forever in his poems.

Because of the British colonial culture, the Irish people were seen as “rustic,” “ill-educated,” “superstitious” and “disabled,” so the image of the Irish nation was distorted. In order to maintain the nationalist respect, Yeats created an image of fisherman from the numerous peasants. In the poem The fisherman, the fisherman is the symbol of the Irish nation. He is kindhearted, straight forward, brave and hardworking with some shortcomings. The fisherman is the carrier of the dream that Yeats couldnt realize but desired to realize. The peasant is the symbol of Celtic traditional traits.

Yeats had deep feelings for his motherland, which is embodied in a series of his poems. In the poem Easter, 1916, he used mother to symbolize Ireland. And the up-risers were her children. Her calling to her children inspired the love for Ireland.

Ireland in Yeasts mind should be the centre of the worlds civilization, where the essences of all the cultures of the world will be gathered. He used Byzantium to symbolize Ireland in future. What is more, Yeats used rose to symbolize Ireland. He used the red rose to symbolize the harmonious, everlasting beauty and hope of Ireland. He used the swan to symbolize Ireland. He used the Coole Garden to symbolize Ireland. The beautiful scenery in the garden was a miniature of the landscape of Ireland. His praise for the Coole Garden was the praise for Ireland. The title of the poem The Wild Swans at Coole is a symbol of the ideal ecological surroundings. He used the most beautiful symbols that he could find to symbolize his motherland. Yeats expresses his profound patriotism by using the symbols to describe his motherland.

參考書目：

[1]Chen Jia . English Literature, the Commercial Press, 1982.

[2]何高大 《 乘著詩的翅膀 》，廣州：廣東省語言音像出版社 ，2000 。

[3]李貴蒼 編 《比較文學(xué)與世界文學(xué)研究論集》 ，上海 ：上海古籍出版社 ，2011 。

[4]王佐良 《 英國詩史 》，南京 ：譯林出版社， 2008 。

[5]葉 芝 《 葦間風(fēng) 》，李立瑋 譯 ，北京 ：中國社會(huì)科學(xué)出版社 ， 2004。