Unity of Being, Reason, and Sensibility: Yeats's Aesthetic Vision The poetry of William Butler Yeats is underlined by a fundamental commitment to philosophical exploration. Yeats argued that the art of poetry existed only in movement through and beyond thought. Throughout his life, Yeats's aesthetic vision was in constant flux; it has moved and evolved too. His poetry reflects this evolution. The need to achieve wholeness, wholeness, through art would become his most basic aesthetic philosophy. His poetry dwells on separation only to ultimately present a sense of unity. It is in this way that Yeats manages to do what few philosophers and poets have ever done: reconcile reason and sensitivity. This paradox present in his aesthetic ideal protects his poetry from stagnation and keeps his art alive. Yeats had the courage to “explore the fundamental intertwining of life and art” (Garab 56). One of Yeats's first aesthetic statements was in "To The Rose Upon the Rood of Time", written in 1889. Eternal beauty, the red rose, lives by sacrifice. He hangs on the cross of time, perhaps a symbol of self-sacrifice. In the first stanza, Yeats seems to want a fusion with this archetypal beauty. “Come near me, while I sing the ancient ways:” (Yeats 71). The second verse, however, qualifies this desire. The poet wants to be able to appreciate the common aspects of life. Distance is necessary for him to preserve this appreciation. Beauty may be found in the commonplace, but the rose is ultimately a "higher" form of beauty, an aesthetic model that "the feeble worm that hides in his little cave" cannot reach (Yeats 72). Yeats's desire for the eternal beauty embodied in the rose is increased......center of card......Garab, Arra M. Beyond Byzantium: The Last Phase of Yeats' Career. Dekalb Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 1969. Houghton, Walter E. “Yeats and Crazy Jane: The Hero in Old Age,” XL, 4 (May 1943), University of Chicago Press. Rpt. in. Yeats's Permanence. James Hall and Martin Steinmann Ed., New York: Collier Books, 1961.---. Modern poems. Richard Ellman and Robert O'Clair Ed. New York: WW Norton and Co., 1989. Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond good and evil. Walter Kaufman trans. New York: Vontage Books, 1989. Yeats, William Butler. Wheels and butterflies. New York: Macmillan Co., 1934.Zwerdling, Alex. “WB Yeats: Variations on Visionary Quest.” Rpt in Yeats: a collection of critical essays. John Unterecker Ed. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1963.

Topic > Unity of Being, Reason, and Sensibility: Yeats's Aesthetic Vision The poetry of William Butler Yeats is underlined by a fundamental commitment to philosophical exploration. Yeats argued that the art of poetry existed only in movement through and beyond thought. Throughout his life, Yeats's aesthetic vision was in constant flux; it has moved and evolved too. His poetry reflects this evolution. The need to achieve wholeness, wholeness, through art would become his most basic aesthetic philosophy. His poetry dwells on separation only to ultimately present a sense of unity. It is in this way that Yeats manages to do what few philosophers and poets have ever done: reconcile reason and sensitivity. This paradox present in his aesthetic ideal protects his poetry from stagnation and keeps his art alive. Yeats had the courage to “explore the fundamental intertwining of life and art” (Garab 56). One of Yeats's first aesthetic statements was in "To The Rose Upon the Rood of Time", written in 1889. Eternal beauty, the red rose, lives by sacrifice. He hangs on the cross of time, perhaps a symbol of self-sacrifice. In the first stanza, Yeats seems to want a fusion with this archetypal beauty. “Come near me, while I sing the ancient ways:” (Yeats 71). The second verse, however, qualifies this desire. The poet wants to be able to appreciate the common aspects of life. Distance is necessary for him to preserve this appreciation. Beauty may be found in the commonplace, but the rose is ultimately a "higher" form of beauty, an aesthetic model that "the feeble worm that hides in his little cave" cannot reach (Yeats 72). Yeats's desire for the eternal beauty embodied in the rose is increased......center of card......Garab, Arra M. Beyond Byzantium: The Last Phase of Yeats' Career. Dekalb Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 1969. Houghton, Walter E. “Yeats and Crazy Jane: The Hero in Old Age,” XL, 4 (May 1943), University of Chicago Press. Rpt. in. Yeats's Permanence. James Hall and Martin Steinmann Ed., New York: Collier Books, 1961.---. Modern poems. Richard Ellman and Robert O'Clair Ed. New York: WW Norton and Co., 1989. Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond good and evil. Walter Kaufman trans. New York: Vontage Books, 1989. Yeats, William Butler. Wheels and butterflies. New York: Macmillan Co., 1934.Zwerdling, Alex. “WB Yeats: Variations on Visionary Quest.” Rpt in Yeats: a collection of critical essays. John Unterecker Ed. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1963.