ISSN : 1226-4946(Print)
ISSN : 2288-5412(Online)
ISSN : 2288-5412(Online)
The Yeats Journal of Korea Vol.13 pp.7-33
DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.14354/yjk.2000.13.7
DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.14354/yjk.2000.13.7
A Study on W. B. Yeats’s Dramatic Poem The Old Age of Queen Maeve
Abstract
The Old Age of Queen Maeve(1903) is a very short pure dramatic poem, whichdeals with Queen Maeve’s heroic episode related to the god of love Aengus’s loveaffair in the ancient pagan period of Ireland. In this work Yeats expresses his strongwill to disinter almost forgotten ancient narratives and propagate them among thecontemporary Irish people who are getting quite unfamiliar with them, and at thesame time he expresses his admiration of his beloved Maud Gonne more overtly andproudly than in any other work by juxtaposing/overlapping her image with that ofQueen Maeve.
This poem, along with such long dramatic poems as The Wandering ofOisin(1889) and The Shadowy Waters(1906-12), belongs to the same group ofnarratives in that all of these are related to his unrequited sweetheart Gonne.However, The Old Age of Queen Maeve is somewhat different from those two in themanner the poet takes toward his beloved, and in this poem he deplores that she toowill grow old and die though she is as great, beautiful and passionate a woman asQueen Maeve was.
In those two longer poems the star-crossed lovers follow heartbreaking pattern oflove―meeting only after their death. But in The Old Age of Queen Maeve the loversare supposed to meet each other in this world eventually, however long time it willtake, as Aengus was to meet his lover Caer by the help of Queen Maeve and hergrandchildren.
In this article the present writer intends to descry Yeats’s purpose of using theancient Irish myths and his power of creating an individual mythology based onthem, and interpret the symbolical meanings caused by the overlapped images ofMaeve and Gonne.
This poem, along with such long dramatic poems as The Wandering ofOisin(1889) and The Shadowy Waters(1906-12), belongs to the same group ofnarratives in that all of these are related to his unrequited sweetheart Gonne.However, The Old Age of Queen Maeve is somewhat different from those two in themanner the poet takes toward his beloved, and in this poem he deplores that she toowill grow old and die though she is as great, beautiful and passionate a woman asQueen Maeve was.
In those two longer poems the star-crossed lovers follow heartbreaking pattern oflove―meeting only after their death. But in The Old Age of Queen Maeve the loversare supposed to meet each other in this world eventually, however long time it willtake, as Aengus was to meet his lover Caer by the help of Queen Maeve and hergrandchildren.
In this article the present writer intends to descry Yeats’s purpose of using theancient Irish myths and his power of creating an individual mythology based onthem, and interpret the symbolical meanings caused by the overlapped images ofMaeve and Gonne.
Keywords :
W. B. 예이츠의 극시 『메이브 여왕의 노년』 연구*
초록
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