A Mysticism Approach to Yeats Byzantium
Kun-Yuan Li, Ruoyu Li, Manxi Liu, Xinwen Liu, Bingxin Xie
Communications in Humanities Research May 17, 2023 DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/4/20220657 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Key points | Argues that mysticism is an important source of Yeats's poetic creation and that his poem "Byzantium" particularly embodies his mystical system, which combines Irish folk mythology, Swedish mystical philosophy, Judaism and Christian doctrine, Indian Buddhist thought, and ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology. The paper offers a section-by-section interpretation to clarify the mysticism expressed in the poem. |
Abstract
William Butler Yeats is the most famous poet in the history of modern Irish literature. He is called the greatest poet of our time by T.S Eliot. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. He has a strong interest in mysticism and has made unremitting exploration of it throughout his life. Mysticism is an important source of Yeatss life creation. From the early collection of Irish folklore and mythology to the formation of the later mysterious system, Yeats constructed his own set of mythological systems. Yeats mysticism is particularly evident in his poem Byzantium. His poems are full of mystery due to the combination of Irish folk mythology, Swedish mysticism philosophy, Judaism and Christian doctrine, Indian Buddhist thought, ancient Greek and ancient Egyptian mythology and other factors. Among them, his poems are famous for the symbol of Oriental mysticism. This paper makes a detailed interpretation of Byzantine and then implements the analysis of this masterpiece in each section. Based on this analysis, this paper focuses on the interpretation of mysticism in poetry and its impact in order to achieve a better understanding of the mysticism embodied in poetry and provide a valuable reference for future research on related issues.