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ISSN : 1226-4946(Print)
ISSN : 2288-5412(Online)
The Yeats Journal of Korea Vol.10 pp.269-282
DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.14354/yjk.1999.10.269

Yeats and Shakespeare on Love, Poetry, and Immortality

Sinu Jeong

Abstract

For the study of courtly love poetry, which is one of the oldest literaryconventions, I attempt to read both Yeats and Shakespeare. Therelationship between time, love, and art has been a motif on which thepoets of all ages have speculated. Perfect love between lovers fades withtime and deep furrows on the tender face of the young beloved take placebecause of an inexorable time. Against such an irresistible time, artistsmake creative efforts to preserve the lover’s beauty in their works.
In Sonnets, Shakespeare feeling nervous about the youth’s beauty endingjust in his own lifetime, intends to write poems to keep the beauty eternal.As the poet admires the young handsome man, he wants to make his beautyand friendship with him everlasting in his poetry. In his Sonnets the poetneither deals directly with the destructive time nor shows the paradoxical willagainst it. Simply adapting to the powerful time and accepting the weaknessof man, the poet wishes that beauty will live for good.
Meanwhile, as modern poet Yeats started with romantic lyrics andwrote many love poems reflecting the traditional conventions. Yeats acceptscertain conventions such as the woman as goddess, Muse and aestheticobject (Cullingford 20). As a presence in real life, the woman extolled bythe poet throughout his whole life cannot escape the influence of time.Saddened by the fact that his love is forgotten from the memory of people,the poet chooses to remain the last to write poetry for her. And he showsa strong will to overcome the destructive time and portrays time as apositive influence that deepens the beloved’s nobleness.
As mentioned above, though two poets’ responses to time are different,there seems to be an agreement in their poetry as to the fact that loveand beauty can be made eternal through art and poetry. These great poetsconfirm the truth that the immortality of art goes beyond time.
Keywords :

Yeats와 Shakespeare 시의 사랑과 불멸성

정신우
한양대

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