Observational Science

Yeats' scientific background in epistemology, geography and chemistry explains something interesting. The bio on Yeats begins with a characterization of his writing style, which is an 'arrangement of pictures' or images. Yeats is keen on using nature as a means of expression. And much like the Ovid, he reifies his feelings into tangible and natural objects, such as those which are easily imagined like animals and vegetation. Yeats' poetry is very much an illustration or a window into a world of seeing. And so is modern science. Descartes once said that our world is just a big machine, and thus if one part of the machine is present there must be another, behind it, which makes it work. Like the gears of the clock. In other words, through observation, we can understand everything about how the mechanics of the world work because all the parts are there. The hard part is figuring out where to look. Applying this principal of science to Yeats explains something about, not only his style, but about how he thinks. At heart, Yeats is a scientist, and his art, whatever spirituality it might be inspired by, is an observational science. Like Newton, who discovered gravity by witnessing the fall of an apple, the meaning of Yeats' poetry is derived from his world of pictures and images. Like in Red Hanran's Song About Ireland where he starts off with: "The Old brown thorn-trees break in two high over cummen strand,/ under a bitter black wind that blows from the left hand;/ our courage breaks like an old tree in black wind and dies..." Yeats, in describing an abstract concept such as courage or a lack there of, evokes the feeling of a striking fear or a sudden loss of courage with an observation of nature, not an observation of the human condition. In many of Yeats poems it is hard to distinguish between metaphor and plain imagery because of this.

On a brief history of Ireland and a misunderstanding of Yeats

The brief history of Ireland reassured my vague understanding of irish history. They had it good and they had it bad and it was mostly bad. What is most apparent is the suffering. In other words, the suffering is most interesting. Suffering is a chief inspiration. And though the irish people were robbed of their land, their language, their religion, their vote, their food, and their happiness, they never lost spirit or inspiration. They live with a 'sticks and stones' mentality. That is, the irish are empowered by the history of their suffering. Reading Yeats confesses something like this. His words, just by reading them, evoke a ritualism. his poems create an aura of sacrifice, and the sublime qualities of blood, coldness and stormy seas. Just reading them is a struggle. I feel physical and mental strain, as if i had gone days without food and had become numb to pain while still being aware of its presence. His work casts the shadow of suffering. There is nothing profane about it. And he upholds the history of the irish struggle in a most sacred light. There is no snobbery though there is pride. There is mostly spirituality and totemic appreciation. Though i am not familiar with what he references and though most of the time i cannot follow, i pick up on the sincerity of his expression. and that he has something to express.