Between Rhythm And Posture

Irish poet W·B·Yeats, who won Noble Prize(1923) for his unique national creative work in poetry, is a vital English poet in Contemporary literature. With a close reading of his lyrics, the focus of this paper is fixed on the expression of"Dance"image in Yeats'poems, furthermore, the paper concerns Yeats'spiritual world also. The main body consists of five parts.Chapter I"The context of Yeats'poems: Symbol and Image", the notion of"Image"in Symbolic literature context is investigated in this part.Chapter II"Images in Yeats'poems", under Yeats'critiques and writing practice, the images in his poems are analyzed.ChapterⅢ"The way that'Dance'image presents in Yeats'poems", Component Image, General Image and Thematic Image of"Dance"are represented logically in this part.ChapterⅣ"A world beyond the dance posture", this part includes two sections. 1. Under the gaze——Dance and Dancer: in Yeats'poems, in contrast to his contemporaries, the vehicle of"Dance"is mainly female. With a study of Yeats'thought on gender, this part arrives at a conclusion: the female dancer in Yeats'poems is subjective. 2. Dance among the whole nation——"Dance"image as Primordial Image: with inserting"Dance"image into Irish local myths and legends background, Yeats awakes Collective Unconscious of Irish which contains national trait, stimulates the joy and sorrow psyche remains of Irish, pursues and identifies the national identity.ChapterⅤ"Harmonizing with the universe——'Dance'and his mysticism", with analysis of poets'extraordinary talents, the"Dance"in Yeats'poems, which helps Yeats realize the exceeding of temporary life, and thus arrive at the spiritual experience in harmonizing with the universe, becomes a kind of medium and bridge for him to harmonize with the universe.The conclusion is that the poems created through"Dance"image provide a land of heart's desire for Yeats, in which the poet may transcend the restrictions imposed by aging and death, let his sensitive soul fly freely in eternal and infinite realm.