A Study Of Images In W. B. Yeats's Love Poetry

The thesis focuses to study the images in William Butler Yeats's love poetry. Yeats is one of the great English-language poets of the 20th century, and his poetry (including his love poetry) can be divided into three periods: the early period (1889-1903), the middle period (1904-1925) and the late period (1925-1939). His poetic styles evolve from Romanticism in the early period, to Realism and Modernism in the middle period, to the mixture of symbolism and metaphysics in the last period.Along with the change of styles, the images that Yeats uses in his love poems change also in every period. In his early period, Yeats borrows some images from Irish legends and folktales. These images could be regarded the epitomes of the relation of Yeats and his beloved. And he exploits the occult image of the Rose, which serves the symbol of eternal beauty, Ireland and his beloved. In his middle period, Yeats uses the swan image to symbolize the immortal love and beauty, and associates the swan with his beloved. In the late period, Yeats creates a women image: the wild witch image. In the early and middle periods, Yeats has already depicted two types of women: one is timid and absent, the other is powerful and unattainable. Therefore, the wild witch image is compared with the women in the early and middle periods, so as to find out Yeats's attitude toward women and love in different period.Through the analysis of the images in Yeats's love poetry, it is found that the attitude of Yeats toward love is evolving all the time. In the early period, Yeats thinks that love should be nature, and it occurs and wanes naturally. And he thinks that love is more spiritual than sexual. Therefore, when Yeats describes his pursuing of love, he indicates his hesitation. In the middle period, Yeats expresses his longing for the immortal love. However, as he and his beloved grow old, he realizes that their love could not be immortal as their lives are perishable. In the late period, Yeats, through the voice of the wild witch, expresses his opinion that love is the unity of body and soul.The attitude of Yeats toward women is also evolving in the three periods, which is reflected by the three types of women he creates in his love poetry. In the early and middle periods of Yeats's love poetry, the timid woman conforms to the image of traditional women, and she is subordinate in the relation of man and woman. The powerful woman is the embodiment of"new women"; however, her power comes from men. And their voices are not heard in the love poems. In Yeats's love poetry of middle and late period, the wild witch expresses her opinion about love, and she is no longer subordinate to man.