Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

A Mysticism Approach to Yeats’ Byzantium

Kunyuan LiHarbin University of Science and Technology (Rong Cheng), 2006 Xueyuan Road, Rongcheng District, Weihai, Shandong, China Ruoyu LiChangchun College of Electronic Technology, 333 Xueli Road, Kuancheng District, Changchun, Jilin, China Manxi LiuHuaqiao University, 269 Chenghua North Road, Quanzhou, Fujian, China* Xinwen LiuCardiff University, 11 Park Place, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom Bingxin XieLingnan University Hong Kong, 8 Castle Peak Road, Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong, China

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

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 Yeats’s 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.

Keywords: Mysticism; Poetry; Yeats; Byzantine
Published: May 17, 2023
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/4/20220657
Volume: CHR Vol.4
pp. 438-444
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