Four Years-第13章

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　displayed　at　once　the　violent　free？trader　and　propagandist　of　liberty。　i　thought　that　the　enemy　of　this　unity　was　abstraction；　meaning　by　abstraction　not　the　distinction　but　the　isolation　of　occupation；　or　class　or　faculty？？

call　down　the　hawk　from　the　air　let　him　be　hooded；　or　caged；　till　the　yellow　eye　has　grown　mild；　for　larder　and　spit　are　bare；　the　old　cook　enraged；　the　scullion　gone　wild。

i　knew　no　mediaeval　cathedral；　and　westminster；　being　a　part　of　abhorred　london；　did　not　interest　me；　but　i　thought　constantly　of　homer　and　dante　and　the　tombs　of　mausolus　and　artemisa；　the　great　figures　of　king　and　queen　and　the　lesser　figures　of　greek　and　amazon；　centaur　and　greek。　i　thought　that　all　art　should　be　a　centaur　finding　in　the　popular　lore　its　back　and　its　strong　legs。　i　got　great　pleasure　too　from　remembering　that　homer　was　sung；　and　from　that　tale　of　dante　hearing　a　mon　man　sing　some　stanza　from　the　divine　edy；　and　from　don　quixotes　meeting　with　some　mon　man　that　sang　ariosto。　morris　had　never　seemed　to　care　for　any　poet　later　than　chaucer；　and　though　i　preferred　shakespeare　to　chaucer　i　begrudged　my　own　preference。　had　not　europe　shared　one　mind　and　heart；　until　both　mind　and　heart　began　to　break　into　fragments　a　little　before　shakespeares　birth？　music　and　verse　began　to　fall　apart　when　chaucer　robbed　verse　of　its　speed　that　he　might　give　it　greater　meditation；　though　for　another　generation　or　so　minstrels　were　to　sing　his　long　elaborated　troilus　and　cressida；　painting　parted　from　religion　in　the　later　renaissance　that　it　might　study　effects　of　tangibility　undisturbed；　while；　that　it　might　characterise；　where　it　had　once　personified；　it　renounced；　in　our　own　age；　all　that　inherited　subject　matter　which　we　have　named　poetry。　presently　i　was　indeed　to　number　character　itself　among　the　abstractions；　encouraged　by　congreves　saying　that　passions　are　too　powerful　in　the　fair　sex　to　let　humour；　or　as　we　say　character；　have　its　course。　nor　have　we　fared　better　under　the　mon　daylight；　for　pure　reason　has　notoriously　made　but　light　of　practical　reason；　and　has　been　made　but　light　of　in　its　turn；　from　that　morning　when　descartes　discovered　that　he　could　think　better　in　his　bed　than　out　of　it；　nor　needed　i　original　thought　to　discover；　being　so　late　of　the　school　of　morris；　that　machinery　had　not　separated　from　handicraft　wholly　for　the　worlds　good；　nor　to　notice　that　the　distinction　of　classes　had　bee　their　isolation。　if　the　london　merchants　of　our　day　peted　together　in　writing　lyrics　they　would　not；　like　the　tudor　merchants；　dance　in　the　open　street　before　the　house　of　the　victor；　nor　do　the　great　ladies　of　london　finish　their　balls　on　the　pavement　before　their　doors　as　did　the　great　venetian　ladies　even　in　the　eighteenth　century；　conscious　of　an　all　enfolding　sympathy。　doubtless　because　fragments　broke　into　even　smaller　fragments　we　saw　one　another　in　a　light　of　bitter　edy；　and　in　the　arts；　where　now　one　technical　element　reigned　and　now　another；　generation　hated　generation；　and　acplished　beauty　was　snatched　away　when　it　had　most　engaged　our　affections。　one　thing　i　did　not　foresee；　not　having　the　courage　of　my　own　thought？？the　growing　murderousness　of　the　world。

turning　and　turning　in　the　widening　gyre　the　falcon　cannot　hear　the　falconer；　things　fall　apart；　the　centre　cannot　hold；　mere　anarchy　is　loosed　upon　the　world；　the　blood？dimmed　tide　is　loosed；　and　everywhere　the　ceremony　of　innocence　is　drowned；　the　best　lack　all　conviction；　while　the　worst　are　full　of　passionate　intensity。

。。！



Four　YearsXXI

…。网
the　huxley；　tyndall；　carolus　duran；　bastien？lepage　coven　asserted　that　an　artist　or　a　poet　must　paint　or　write　in　the　style　of　his　own　day；　and　this　with　the　fairy　queen；　and　lyrical　ballads；　and　blakes　early　poems　in　its　ears；　and　plain　to　the　eyes；　in　book　or　gallery；　those　great　masterpieces　of　later　egypt；　founded　upon　that　work　of　the　ancient　kingdom　already　further　in　time　from　later　egypt　than　later　egypt　is　from　us。　i　knew　that　i　could　choose　my　style　where　i　pleased；　that　no　man　can　deny　to　the　human　mind　any　power；　that　power　once　achieved；　and　yet　i　did　not　wish　to　recover　the　first　simplicity。　if　i　must　be　but　a　shepherd　building　his　hut　among　the　ruins　of　some　fallen　city；　i　might　take　porphyry　or　shaped　marble；　if　it　lay　ready　to　my　hand；　instead　of　the　baked　clay　of　the　first　builders。　if　chaucers　personages　had　disengaged　themselves　from　chaucers　crowd；　forgotten　their　mon　goal　and　shrine；　and　after　sundry　magnifications　bee；　each　in　his　turn；　the　centre　of　some　elizabethan　play；　and　a　few　years　later　split　into　their　elements；　and　so　given　birth　to　romantic　poetry；　i　need　not　reverse　the　cinematograph。　i　could　take　those　separated　elements；　all　that　abstract　love　and　melancholy；　and　give　them　a　symbolical　or　mythological　coherence。　not　chaucers　rough？tongued　riders；　but　some　procession　of　the　gods！　a　pilgrimage　no　more　but　perhaps　a　shrine！　might　i　not；　with　health　and　good　luck　to　aid　me；　create　some　new　prometheus　unbound；　patrick　or　columbcille；　oisin　or　fion；　in　prometheuss　stead；　and；　instead　of　caucasus；　croagh？patrick　or　ben　bulben？　have　not　all　races　had　their　first　unity　from　a　polytheism　that　marries　them　to　rock　and　hill？　we　had　in　ireland　imaginative　stories；　which　the　uneducated　classes　knew　and　even　sang；　and　might　we　not　make　those　stories　current　among　the　educated　classes；　re？discovering　for　the　works　sake　what　i　have　called　the　applied　arts　of　literature；　the　association　of　literature；　that　is；　with　music；　speech　and　dance；　and　at　last；　it　might　be；　so　deepen　the　political　passion　of　the　nation　that　all；　artist　and　poet；　craftsman　and　day　labourer　would　accept　a　mon　design？　perhaps　even　these　images；　once　created　and　associated　with　river　and　mountain；　might　move　of　themselves；　and　with　some　powerful　even　turbulent　life；　like　those　painted　horses　that　trampled　the　rice　fields　of　japan。

．．



Four　YearsXXII

小说
i　used　to　tell　the　few　friends　to　whom　i　could　speak　these　secret　thoughts　that　i　would　make　the　attempt　in　ireland　but　fail；　for　our　civilisation；　its　elements　multiplying　by　divisions　like　certain　low　forms　of　life；　was　all　powerful；　but　in　reality　i　had　the　wildest　hopes。　to？day　i　add　to　that　first　conviction；　to　that　first　desire　for　unity；　this　other　conviction；　long　a　mere　opinion　vaguely　or　intermittently　apprehended：　nations；　races　and　individual　men　are　unified　by　an　image；　or　bundle　of　related　images；　symbolical　or　evocative　of　the　state　of　mind；　which　is　of　all　states　of　mind　not　impossible；　the　most　difficult　to　that　man；　race　or　nation；　because　only　the　greatest　obstacle　that　can　be　contemplated　without　despair　rouses　the　will　to　full　intensity。　a　powerful　class　by　terror；　rhetoric；　and　organised　sentimentality；　may　drive　their　people　to　war；　but　the　day　draws　near　when　they　cannot　keep　them　there；　and　how　shall　they　face　the　pure　nations　of　the　east　when　the　day　es　to　do　it　with　but　equal　arms？　i　had　seen　ireland　in　my　own　time　turn　from　the　bragging　rhetoric　and　gregarious　humour　of　oconnells　generation　and　school；　and　offer　herself　to　the　solitary　and　proud　parnell　as　to　her　anti？self；　buskin　following　hard　on　sock；　and　i　had　begun　to　hope；　or　to　half？hope；　that　we　might　be　the　first　in　europe　to　seek　unity　as　deliberately　as　it　had　been　sought　by　theologian；　poet；　sculptor；　architect　from　the　eleventh　to　the　thirteenth　century。　doubtless　we　must　seek　it　differently；　no　longer　considering　it　convenient　to　epitomise　all　human　knowledge；　but　find　it　we　well　might；　could　we　first　find　philosophy　and　a　little　passion。

。。



Four　YearsXXIII

；小；说；〃；网
it　was　the　death　of　parnell　that　convinced　me　that　the　moment　had　e　for　work　in　ireland；　for　i　knew　that　for　a　time　the　imagination　of　young　men　would　turn　from　politics。　there　was　a　little　irish　patriotic　society　of　young　people；　clerks；　shop？boys；　shop？girls；　and　the　like；　called　the　southwark　irish　literary　society。　it　had　ceased　to　meet　because　each　member　of　the　mittee　had　lectured　so　many　times　that　the　girls　got　the　giggles　whenever　he　stood　up。　i　invited　the　mittee　to　my　fathers　house　at　bedford　park　and　there　proposed　a　new　organisation。　after　a　few　months　spent　in　founding；　with　the　help　of　t。　w。　rolleston；　who　came　to　that　first　meeting　and　had　a　knowledge　of　mittee　work　i　lacked；　the　irish　literary　society；　which　soon　included　every　london　irish　author　and　journalist；　i　went　to　dublin　and　founded　there　a　similar　society。

w。　b。　yeats。

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