As a symbolist, Yeats used many symbols in his collected poetry. Therefore, ifyou do not know what the symbols in Yeats's poetry are, you cannot understandthe hidden meanings in Yeats’s mystic and prophetic poetry. One of the significantsymbols of Yeats’s early Rose poetry is the Immortal Rose as the Divine Feminine,Daughter Sophia in Christian Gnosticism. Yeats not only emphasized the feminineprinciple as a symbol of the Immortal Rose but emphasized the role of themasculine principle with various symbols. Especially, in Stories of the RedHanrahan, Red Hanrahan symbolized as the role of the masculine principle,searching for the Immortal Rose, Echtge through his lifetime. Therefore, RedHanrahan is identified with Yeats's self-portrait as well as a symbol of theArthurian Knight, searching for the Holy Grail as the Divine Feminine. After thesymbol of the Immortal Rose in his early poetry, Yeats continued to display thesymbol of the feminine principle with various animal symbols such as a hare, cat,colt, and lion.
Yeats alluded that the Immortal Rose was suffering on the rood of time duringthe last 2000 years period of the androcentric age. The meeting of the hare and thehunters represents the balance of the masculine and the feminine principles as theNew Age comes. The hare is identified with a dying lady in “Upon a Dying Lady”as a hidden savior, suffering in the world. However, the death does not represent areal death but symbolized as the recovery of Sophia's glory and power. As RedHarahan’s anti-self, the fool dreamed the meeting with the hare and the hunters andhounds. The meeting is a paradoxical symbol for Yeats to hide his mystic poetryfrom the world until the right time comes. Yeats believed that at last his beloved,the Immortal Rose would awaken from a deep sleep and open his prophetic poetryin the last generation of the masculine Trinity age. A cat also represents the wisdom and dignity of the Daughter Sophia in the world. It is contrast with thesymbol of the hare, symbolized as a sacrifice and sufferings of Daughter Sophia.Therefore, the symbols of the cat and the hare are related to two aspects of thefeminine principle: proud and sad Rose. Yeats asked all sages in the last generationas a symbol of hunters and hounds to search for the hare, the Immortal Rose inthe world. Yeats also prophesied that the last reincarnation of the Immortal Rose,would come from the East as the cat crawls into the Buddha represented Asianreligion. Therefore, Yeats emphasized all sages to turn to the East, representing“Meru” and “Buddha” to find the last reincarnation of the Immortal Rose. The catimage also developed the symbol of the lion. The Daughter Sophia symbolized as acat would awaken and recover her glory and power as showed the Sphinx in “TheSecond Coming.”
As the 2000 years period of the androcentric gyre is gone, the Immortal Rosewill have her characters such as Jane and the fierce young woman, who severelycriticizes the bishop and she was angry at the persecutors during the androcentricage. Yeats showed the symbols of the Divine Feminine such as Sphinx, Buddha anda girl but they are One. It is related to the three aspects of the Immortal Rosesuch as red, proud, and sad Rose. She is in the world as showed "aplummet-measured face." Mathematics is a symbol of material not supernatural.Yeats prophesied the hunters, the chosen men to search for the Immortal Rose, thehare when the right time comes. The Sphinx’s “Empty eye ball” may be related tothe “cold eye” symbolized as disdain and breaking the imperfect world as the greatJudge in the Last Great Judgment Day. The colt symbolizes as the sufferings of theImmortal Rose like a hare. However, Yeats prophesied that the colt also would bereleased by the suppress from the masculine Trinity age. At the end of theandrocentric age, the masculine principle would be united with the feminineprinciple as the symbol of the dead hare meets hunters and hounds in “HoundVoice.” The meeting of the hare and the hounds represents the Immortal Rose meetwith the sages to prepare for the New Age. Therefore, the various animals and hunting in Yeats's poetry are paradoxical symbols to show the achievement of“Unity of Being” and the New Age.