The Return Of The Magician

I have really been fascinated when I read William B. Yeats’ poem named “The Old Men Admiring Themselves In The water” which seems too short but includes more than what it looks in terms of meaning. Here, I tried to analyze his great but seeming little poem in terms of the physical characteristics of the poem,literary devices used in poem , emotions I have been felt by these literary devices,meaning of the poem and finally Why I chose this poem to analyze .

William Butler Yeats is one of the most esteemed poets in 20th century literature and is well known for his Irish poetry. While Yeats was born in Ireland, he spent most of his adolescent years in London with his family. It wasn’t until he was a teenager that he later moved back to Ireland. He attended the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin and joined the Theosophical Society soon after moving back. He was surrounded by Irish influences most of his life, but it was his commitment to those influences and his heritage that truly affected his poetry. William Butler Yeats’s poetry exemplifies how an author’s Irish identity can help create and influence his work.

He thought poetry was an art of association, it inspires readers' imagination with symbolism rather than direct imitation of life, and hold the reader's feelings and arouse them to act with passion. His style throughout the 19th century formed the mainstream of American poetry”(1).

Yeats works drew heavily on Irish mythology and history, he never fully embraced his Protestant past nor joined the majority or Ireland Roman Catholics but he devoted much of his life to the study in myriad other subjects. The Irish writer’s James O’ Grady and Sir William Ferguson were the most influential. Through his writing Yeats found his voice to speak up against the harsh nationalist policies of the time, his early dramatic works conveyed his respect for Irish legend and fascination with occult. Yeats mother was the first introduce him and his sisters to the Irish folktales he grew to love so much but little did you know that his brother jack and father was also an accomplished artist and they both helped William in his writing and it's the reason he found his own interest in the wonderful arts as he called them. In 1894 Yeats met friend and patron Lady Augusta Gregory and thus began their involvement with The Irish Literary Theatre which was founded in 1899 in Dublin. Along with literature, he also loved the theater and wrote several plays. He collaborated with the likes of Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn and George Moore to establish the Irish Literary Theatre for the purpose of performing Irish and Celtic plays. As a dramatist, his successful works included ‘The Countess Cathleen’ (1892), ‘The Land of Heart’s Desire’ (1894) and ‘The King’s Threshold’

The poem begins in a manner suggestive of a lover scorned. Yeats talks about how passionate women, which at this point in time is not necessarily a compliment, don’t consider love that is a sure thing worth their time and energy. Essentially it is a poetized version of the “Nice guys finish last” argument, along with the idea that people only desire what

“From the sphere of my own experience I can bring to my recollection three persons of no every-day powers and acquirements, who had read the poems of others with more and more unallayed pleasure, and had thought more highly of their authors, as poets; who yet have confessed to me, that from no modern work had so many passages started up anew in their minds at different times, and as different occasions had awakened a meditative mood.” (2) (paragraph 31).

Nothing comes without a price, without purchase. Knowledge comes at the expense of study, or heartbreak. In Lev Grossman’s “The Magicians,” the truths of the world don’t come with the finger flicks they seem to, but rather deadly mistakes and strained relationships. Magic creates problems, not solutions, and the only useful knowledge gained comes steeped in misery and regret.

The recreation of the events of 1984 for spectators, as well as the airing of the documentary a year later allowed for the true story of the original confrontation to be told, by the individuals involved. 34 The great attempts made to maintain historical accuracy while still ensuring the safety of those involved, as well the interviews with participants that were included in the documentary, helped to shed more light on the events that were poorly (and inaccurately) covered by the press at the time. Deller was also able to make the connection between the events of the past and the society he was living in.35 The Battle of Orgreave addressed the way in which news and current events are mediated to the public, as well as the way in which we

Yeats was a confessional poet - that is to say, that he wrote his poetry directly from his own experiences. He was an idealist, with a purpose. This was to create Art for his own people - the Irish. But in so doing, he experienced considerable frustration and disillusionment. The tension between this ideal, and the reality is the basis of much of his writing. One central theme of his earlier poetry is the contrast

The biblical basis of The Magician’s Nephew is Genesis in Bible. Bible says God created the world in Genesis. In this book, it uses a story to represent each character in Bible, and tell us what happened during the creation of the world. In the book, the lion is the Father,and he created the Nania Kingdom while he was singing. He made animals talk and gave them emotion.

I have lost Beauties and feelings, such as would have been Most sweet to my remembrance even when age Had dimm'd mine eyes to blindness! They, meanwhile, Friends, whom I never more may meet again, On springy heath, along the hill-top edge, Wander in gladness, and wind down, perchance, To that still roaring dell, of which I told” (lines 1-9); This poem reveals the theme of solitude as the symbol of romanticism. He is in solitude in his prison without beauties, feeling, and friends.

“.. But the wonder fullest trick of all was the coffin trick. We nailed him into a coffin and he got out the coffin without removing one nail (He has come inside.) There is a trick that would come in handy for me- get me out of this two-by-four situation.”

Veering from the egocentric poems of the Romantic era, Victorian poets began to write poetry not only to express the feelings of an “I,” but also to inspire change in the collective “we.” Being from a historical period with a dramatic class divide, Victorian poets wrote with the intention of crafting beautiful lasting poetry as well as articulating a need for cultural reform in their now. One of the most renowned Victorian poets, Elizabeth Barrett Browning possessed the expert skill of integrating not only imagery and precise rhyme scheme into her poetry, but afflicting her readers with a sense of pity so paramount they had no choice but to make a change.

The twenty-four old romantic poet John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” written in the spring of 1819 was one of his last of six odes. That he ever wrote for he died of tuberculosis a year later. Although, his time as a poet was short he was an essential part of The Romantic period (1789-1832). His groundbreaking poetry created a paradigm shift in the way poetry was composed and comprehended. Indeed, the Romantic period provided a shift from reason to belief in the senses and intuition. “Keats’s poem is able to address some of the most common assumptions and valorizations in the study of Romantic poetry, such as the opposition between “organic culture” and the alienation of modernity”. (O’Rourke, 53) The irony of Keats’s Urn is he likens

William Butler Yeats was not a man to keep quiet about his passions. He expresses his need for more than just reality throughout his poems, longing for the youthful desires of his heart. Yeats often talks about escaping reality and shifting to a realm of fantasy in which his deepest thoughts are brought forth. He reveals his unrequited love through the visionary elements in his poems. His use of sensory detail in each of the poems increases the fantastical notion of the poems. Yeats longs for the things he can no longer attain, such as love and youth. Two poems that display his youthful desires are “The Song of Wandering Aengus” and “The Wild Swans at Coole.”