Destination of the Ark of Art: Yeats’s Christian Eschatology from “The Second Coming” to “Sailing to Byzantium”

Shenghua Yang

doi:10.5539/ells.v5n2p64

Abstract

Yeats was one of the greatest figures in twentieth-century English and Irish literature. When discussing the rich content of Yeats’s poems, most scholars intend to investigate the occult thought, the theory of circle and symbolism. It is noteworthy that biblical archetypes and Yeats’s spiritual pursuit for harmony lie behind them. The Ark of Art in Yeats’s two poems—“The Second Coming” and “Sailing to Byzantium” frees poet from the chaos in the Last Days and brings him to pursue the God of Art to harmonize himself, poetics, art and macrocosm.

Highlights

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), winner of Nobel Prize for literature in 1923, ranks among the most widely admired and intensively studied writers of twentieth century
“The Second Coming” draws its imagery from Yeats’s developing theories concerning cycles of history and the gyres, which later become the focus in A Vision
Yeats’s theory of the gyres is the creation of Yeats’s magic imagination. This important theory is deep-rooted in Bible and it is not difficult for us to trace back to its originals—Christian Eschatology, the profound theme contained in Bible

Summary

Introduction

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), winner of Nobel Prize for literature in 1923, ranks among the most widely admired and intensively studied writers of twentieth century. The purpose of the existence of the cycle of life-death-rebirth in Yeats’s works is to achieve eternal harmony in his pursuit for the God of Art by virtue of his own interpretation of Bible and other religious traditions. There are not yet many critical studies concerning one of the most important thematic meanings in Yeats’s theory of the gyres—harmony brought by the God of Art from the perspective of biblical explanations In this sense, the main purpose of the present article is to dig into Yeats’s two great poems “The Second Coming” and “Sailing to Byzantium” based upon biblical originals and to demonstrate the fact that the essence of Bible still plays a significant role in Yeats’s creative works Yeats, to some extent, does not believe in Christianity. The article supplies some useful and important references to the study of the underlying argument of Yeats’s poems and of the relationship between his poems and his viewpoint towards universe, life and nation

Christian Eschatology in “The Second Coming”

Recreation in “Sailing to Byzantium”

Conclusion