Yeats: Tragic Joy and the Sublime

Author(s): R. Jahan Ramazani

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Source: PMLA, Vol. 104, No. 2 (Mar., 1989), pp. 163-177
Published by: Modern Language Association
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 R. JAHAN RAMAZANI

Yeats:Tragic
JoyandtheSublime

It is a violencefromwithinthatprotectsus froma vio-ical sublime).Moregenerally, thisapproachcan

lencewithout.It is theimagination back against
pressing also revealtheinterrelations between thesublime
thepressure ofreality.
It seems,inthelastanalysis,tohave
andsuchrelated modesas prophecy andthecurse.
something to do withour self-preservation;
and that,no
Although thesublimeis nota unitary concept,I
doubt,is whytheexpression ofit,thesoundofitswords,
helpsus to liveour lives.
hopetoshow,withYeats'shelp,thatdeathisitsul-
timateoccasion.2
Wallace Stevens
How doesthesublimerelateto thetraditional
Do not go gentleintothatgood night, genre analysis ofthesepoemsinterms oftragedy?
Old age shouldburnand raveat close of day; Intheoretical discussionsthesublime overlapswith
Rage, rageagainstthedyingof thelight. epic,tragedy, lyric,and prophecy, but of these
Dylan Thomas genres tragedy istheprimary aesthetic example for
KantandSchiller, as wellas a frequent touchstone

L forLonginus.3
IKE HIS MODERNIST contemporaries theticcounterpart
Schiller
cites"tragic art"as theaes-
oftheindividual's sublime en-
Eliot and Hulme,Yeatsrarelyusestheword counter withthespectacle ofchangeinnature and
sublime.His criticshavebeenall too willing history, changethat"destroys everything andcre-
to adopt his aversionto theterm,eventhoughhis atesitanew,anddestroys again"(210).Thisview
propheticand apocalypticlyricsof tragicjoy de- anticipates IrisMurdoch's contention thatthethe-
scend fromthe Romanticsublimeof Blake and ory of the sublimeapprehension of "formless
Shelley and even though his primaryaesthetic strength" is close indeedto beinga theoryof
categories-ecstasy,passion, terror,sprezzatura, tragedy (268).Itwouldbe morenearly accurate to
joy-descend fromthevocabularyofwriters on the saythatthetheory ofthesublime is closetobeing
sublimefromLonginusto Schopenhauer.1Yeats a theory of whatYeatscalls"tragicjoy,"forthe
continuallydrawson thisrhetoric-forexample, sublime transforms thepainful spectacle ofdestruc-
when he definesthe poet's "ecstasy" as arising tionand deathintoa joyfulassertion of human
"fromthecontemplation of thingsvasterthanthe freedom andtranscendence. Yeatsmostmemorably
individualand imperfectly seen," or whenhe rec- conjoinsthetragicandthesublime inhisdescrip-
ommendssymbolsin artas a means"to escapethe tionofShakespearean heroeswhoencounter their
barrennessand shallownessof a too consciousar- deathswithan ecstaticenlargement of vision,
rangement,"or, perhapsless obviously,whenhe "Heavenblazingintothehead;/Tragedy wrought
mythologizes lifeand historyas a turningbetween to itsuttermost" ("Lapis Lazuli" 294).Another
antitheticalterms(Autobiography 319;Essays 87). tragichero, Oedipus, isforYeatsa resonant emblem
Theoriesof the sublimecan help us interpret the oftragicjoy,as heisforLonginus anemblem ofthe
familyresemblancesamong Yeats'scontroversial sublime (478-79).In theintroduction toA Vision
lyricsaffirming deathand destruction: latepoems Yeatswrites thathisbookwill"proclaim a newdi-
such as "The Gyres"and "Lapis Lazuli," middle vinity": "He ragedagainsthissons,andthisrage
poems such as "The Second Coming" and "The wasnoble.. . . He knewnothing buthismind, and
Fascinationof What'sDifficult," and evenan early yetbecausehespokethatmindfatepossessed itand
poem, "The Valleyof theBlack Pig." By reading kingdoms changed according tohisblessing andhis
these poems synchronically in the lightof the cursing" (27-28).Theutterances ofYeats's Oedipus
poetics of the Romanticsublime,we can better exemplify therhetoricalviolence ofthesublime, a
understand thestructureand genealogyoftheiraf- violencethatI tracein Yeats'sfavorite sublime
fectivemovement fromterrortojoy (thepsycholog- modes-thecurse,theprophecy, and theapoca-
ical sublime) as well as their characteristically lypse.ButI beginbyattempting to determine the
violentfigures and fragmentary images(therhetor- affective basisforthisviolence.

163

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164 Yeats: TragicJoyand the Sublime

I. TheAffective
Sublime gasp,"I seemneartodying," andHomer's terrified
sailors,"carried away from underdeath,butonly
"Tragic joy"expresses as wellas anyotherformu- just"(473).Thesublime strife between heroesand
lationinthehistory ofcriticism theemotive struc- gods,aspirants masters, goodformortals,
and is
tureand ambivalence of the sublime,sincethe butonlyifthemortals survive thethreatened an-
sublime involves theconversion ofaffects from de- nihilation (476). For Edmund Burke, too, "ideas of
featandterror to freedom andjoy.4A considera- pain, and above all of death," occasion the sublime
tionoftheprecedents forYeats'sevocative phrase (65).Oneofhismostprominent examples isDeath
revealsassumptions sharedbyvarioustheorists of itself, in Milton's allegory(59). Kant amends
thesublime. Inthefirst fulldiscussion ofthepsy- Burke's emphasis on terror by arguing that wemust
chological sublime, EdmundBurkecreates a com- be secureas wepicture toourselves dangerandde-
parableoxymoron: "delightful horror,whichisthe struction, buteventhen,theimaginary threat is so
mostgenuine effect,andtruest testofthesublime" great that we know "all resistance would be al-
(73).Schillerexplicatesthebinary affect:"Thefeel- together vain"(100).Itisourapparent security that
ingofthesublimeis a mixedfeeling. It is a com- allowsour fundamental insecurity to comeinto
positionof melancholy whichat its utmostis view.His notionofthefirst stepinthesublime as
manifested ina shudder, andofjoyousness which a defeatoftheimagination, a momentary check-
can mountto rapture. . . " (198). Thisremarkso ing,is a kindofmomentary death,theequivalent
closelyapproximates of
Yeats'sdescription tragic of Yeats's "Black out" in "Lapis Lazuli" and
ecstasy for
that,except thewordsublime, could it Wordsworth's "when the light ofsense/Goesout"
almostbethe work of hispen.Yeatswrites, forex- in The Prelude (1805, 6.534-35). For Freud,thisis
of in
ample,"thenobleness theartsis themingling the moment of over
anxiety castration intheoedi-
ofcontraries, theextremity ofsorrow, theextremity pal struggle; for Heidegger, the sudden callofcon-
of joy" (Essays 255). The sublimein Kantalso sciencethatdiscloses Dasein'sguiltandnullity-a
seems,as Schillerphrasesit, "twocontradictory callthat"comesfrommeand yetfrombeyondme"
perceptions ina singlefeeling" (198).ButKanttries (320). Formyinterpretation of thesublimeas a
tounpackthesynchronic affect a
along diachronic staged confrontation with death, I drawonthepsy-
axis,separating itintomoments ofdefeat andcoun- choanalytic accountsof Hertzand Weiskel, sup-
terassertion.Threatening objects"raisetheenergies plementing themwitha Heideggerian emphasis on
ofthesoul"anddiscover inusthe"courage tomea- theecstatic encounter withdeath.ButitisinYeats
sureourselves againsttheapparent almightiness of thatthesublime isexplicitly a stagedconfrontation
nature"(100-01).Yeats'spoemsoftragic joyoften withdeath:histragic heroes convey intheir finalut-
aimat couragein thefaceof Blakeannature-a terances "thesuddenenlargement oftheirvision,
universe ofdeaththatwouldtrapthemind.5 Yeats theirecstasyat theapproachof death"(Essays
remarks, muchlikeKant,that"onlythegreatest ob- 522-23).
staclethatcan be contemplated without despair Inthetemporal structure ofthesublime, thean-
rousesthewillto fullintensity" (Autobiography ticipation ofdeathgivesrisetoa counterassertion
132).In hissystem, Yeatsmythologizes thisobsta- oflife.Havingtornouthiseyesinhorror, Yeats's
cleas "theBody ofFate," butinhislyrics thefinal antithetical Oedipusreasserts himself witha rage
formofthereality principle is deathitself. that"seemed tocontain alllife"(Vision28).Inpsy-
In myview,deathprecipitates theemotional chological terms, the hero andthepoetsurmount
turningcalledthesublime, although theorists ofthe the threat of the destructive father through identifi-
sublime oftenrefer todeathbyothernames,orby cation with him.7 This oedipal dynamic is clear
whatKenneth Burketerms "deflections": nothing- and pervasive in Yeats's personal history, even
ness,castration, physicaldestruction, semiotic col- though Reveries over Childhood and Youth dis-
lapse,defeat bya precursor, andannihilation ofthe places the figure of aggression onto hisgrandfather
ego.6Deathis therecurrent obsessionforthese Pollexfen, a manwhomYeatsconfused withGod
from to
theorists, Longinus Heidegger and Bloom. and Lear, prayed to forpunishment, and emulated
Longinusoffers variousconceptsofthesublime, as a modelofcourage(Autobiography 3, 4, 22).
buthisexamples makeitclearthatdeathis hisor- Thispsychoanalytic modelof thesublimecan
ganizing trope-witness Sappho'sbroken-tongued helpus interpret theoverarching affective move-

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 R. JahanRamazani 165

mentof Yeats'spoemsof tragicjoy. In brief,these words, itallowstheviolence within toconquerthe

poemsintroject theviolent,paternalthreat, thereby violencewithout as a matterofself-preservation.
permitting theconversion of defensiveand pathetic Thisillusion issometimes dangerously complete in
energyintojoy. In the psychiceconomyof these Yeats'slyricsoftragic joy,where thepoetmayseem
lyricsthe energyreleasedby the escape fromthe tocasttoocoldan eyeon deathandtoinurehim-
father-or fromdeath,the finalformof author- selftoviolence. Incorporating theOther(annihila-
ity-often manifestsitselfas laughter.Fighting tiveviolence, "numbnightmare," superego onthe
blindlythe poet-herosuddenly"laughs aloud" rampage), thespeakerof "TheGyres,"forexam-
(326; seealso 159,250,293). The Shakespearean ac- ple,discardsthesingular pronounI-associated
torsin "Lapis Lazuli" do not "weep./ Theyknow withtheearlier, weeping self-andexultsas a plu-
that Hamlet and Lear are gay" (294). In generic ralidentity: "Wethatlookon butlaughintragic
terms, theunexpected joyofthesublimearisesfrom joy"(293).Thelyricattempts todeliver thepoetic
therelinquishment of elegiacpathos. Indeed,the selffrom thedeathly victimageofpassive spectator-
poemsof tragicjoy mightbe thoughtof as a coun- ship(thedefeated hearerofLonginus) byconvert-
tergenre to elegy.If mourning is thepsychiccorrela- ingaudience intoauthor, theRocky Facewilling the
tive of elegy,as Sacks maintains(1-37), mania bloodyspectacle itmustobserve.
correspondsto the sublime; and mania, writes Thetheory ofthesublime, as wecanalready see,
Freud,is theovercomingof mourning: helpstoexplain theintersubjectivedramaofYeats's
visionary lyrics.Suchpoemsenactthestrengthen-
Inmania,theegomusthavegotoverthelossoftheobject ingoftheegobyintrojection, andyet,indoingso,
(or itsmourning overtheloss,or perhapstheobject theyadmitan "alienvoice,"as Heidegger callsit,
itself),andthereupon thewholequotaof anticathexis thatseemstoteartheboundaries oftheego,bring-
which thepainful suffering
ofmelancholia haddrawn to ingitperilously closetoannihilation (321).Thepoet
itselffromthe ego and "bound" willhavebecome saysof Oedipus,muchas Longinusdoes of the
available. ("Mourning" 255) Pythian priestess,
thatDelphi"spokethrough him"
(Vision27-28).Yeats'stheory ofthemaskisa the-
The transitionfromelegiacmourningto affirma- oryofself-transformation through imitation ofthe
tionmarksthemiddlemovementof manypoems not-self,a theory cognatewiththesublime inboth
of tragicjoy. In thepivotallineof "Meru," gaiety privileging thesubjectandviolating itsintegrity:
supervenes whenthepoetreleaseslostcivilizations "alljoyousorcreative energyisa re-birth as some-
fromthe grip of mourning:"Egypt and Greece thing notoneself, something which hasnomemory
good-bye, and good-bye, Rome!" (289). In themid- and is createdin a momentand perpetually re-
dle stanza of "The Gyres,"the youthful,elegiac newed" (Autobiography 340). The voice that
poet who weptand "sighed" is overridden bythe emerges fromtheRockyFace is "not oneself,"
Nietzscheancommand "Rejoice" (293). Having though itsmessageofreassurance wouldseemin-
facedhis own death,Yeatswritesin a late letter, tendedto rousetheselfto itsfullest strength. If
"How strangeis thesubconsciousgaietythatleaps "TheSecondComing"similarly rehearses death,
up beforedangeror difficulty. I havenothad a mo- putting on thepowerof therepressed fatherit
mentof depression-thatgaietyis outsideone's represents as rough beast,thenitrisksdestabilizing
control"(Letters733). Terroris converted intojoy, theselfwhiletrying toachievestability.Appropri-
"[g]aietytransfiguring all that dread," as Yeats atingtheviolenceof theroughbeastforitsown
writesin hisstrongest contribution to thesublime auralactionandimpact, thepoemenacts, inHertz's
("Lapis Lazuli" 294). phrase,a "transfer of power"typicalofthesub-
But as Longinusremindsus, thejoy of thesub- lime;butthetransfer potentiallyendangers thein-
limeis ultimately basedon an illusion:"It is ourna- tegrityofthepoeticself(Hertz,"Reading"7). The
tureto be elevatedbytruesublimity. Filledwithjoy "vastimage"startsintothepoet'smindoutof a
and pride,wecometo believewehavecreatedwhat mindnothisown:
we have only heard" (467). The sublimeis the
momentary illusionthattranslates
hearerintoora- Surelysomerevelation
is at hand;
tor,son intofather,and theweepingelegistof "The SurelytheSecondComingis at hand.
Gyres" into the "Old RockyFace." In Stevens's TheSecondComing!Hardlyarethosewordsout

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166 Yeats:TragicJoyand theSublime

When a vastimageout of SpiritusMundi II. Structure,

Imagery,Sound, and Rhetoric
Troublesmysight.. . . (187)
Because theYeatsiansublimeoftencompresses
TheOtheroftheYeatsian sublime isthatmindbe- themomentsof itsdialectic,itdoes notalwaysfol-
yondourminds, Anima Mundi, theDaimon,the low the clear Kantian stagesof assertionof the
Mask,whatwemight alsocall(as Yeatsoccasion- Imagination, defeatorprosthetic death,and rescue
allydoes)thesub-orunconscious, labeledtheRea- bytheReason,or eventhesimplerbutcomparable
sonbyKant,thedivinepossessor byLonginus. In stepsinBurkeofterror andjoy,inLonginusof dai-
Yeats'ssublime poems,wordsandimagesseemto monicpossessionand expulsion.Even so, a struc-
havean "independent reality,"
invading themind turalsimilarityis perceptible
in suchpoemsas "The
from beyondit,eachlikean "emblem" that"sails Valleyof theBlack Pig," "The Second Coming,"
intothesight"(Mythologies284; Poems 244). and thelyricscomposingthe finalmovements of
Nevertheless,interpretationsofthesublime that "MeditationsinTimeofCivilWar"and "Nineteen
overemphasize thisthreattotheidentity ofthesub- Hundredand Nineteen."Each openswitha vision
jectriskturning thesublime intomysticism, dressed thatshattersthesleepycomplacencyor bounded-
up in Lacaniangarb.8The sublimepoetand the nessof thepoeticself,substitutes a moreconcen-
mystic sharetheconviction that,as Yeatsputsit, tratedimage for this confusedand fragmented
"thebordersof ourmindareevershifting," but vision,and then,havingenlargedtheboundariesof
whereas forthemystic theenergy flows inonedirec- theego and totalizedreality,
dropsa veilto separate
tion,fromOtherintoself,thesublimepoetalso selffromOther.10Some of Yeats'ssublimepoems
reverses thedirection,ina reaction-formation, be- do not strictly conformto thistemporalmap. In
lievingthattheselfhasproduced whatithasheard "NineteenHundredand Nineteen,"forexample,
(Essays 28). However hardYeatstriestobe a mys- theincubusArtisson-theequivalentof theblack
tic,thelyricselfinhispoemsis rarely thepassive pigand theroughbeast-"lurchespast" onlyafter,
vesseloftheDaimon.Selfassertsitsprerogatives and notbefore,thedistancing momentofdropping
overmystic Soulinmanymorelyrics than'A Dia- windand settlingdust (210). Nor do the sublime
logueof Selfand Soul," and poeticidentity is lyricseasily separateinto Kant's categories:the
generated bytheiragon.EvenSouldoesnotspeak mathematical sublime,incremental and repetitive,
consistently intherhetoric ofself-abnegation but and the dynamicalsublime,singularand abrupt.
insteadopensthedialoguewitha favorite Yeatsian Nevertheless,"Leda and theSwan" and "The Cold
command,"I summon," muchas theseemingly Heaven"exemplify, withtheirastonishinglyviolent
mystic speaker of'AllSouls'Night"repeatedly as- openings,thesuddenand singlemomentofrupture
sertshisprovenance withthephrase"I call" (234; characteristicof thedynamicalsublime:
228-29).Ina declamatory poemthatsummons past
and future, "To Irelandin theComingTimes," A suddenblow:thegreatwingsbeating
still
materiapoeticais saidtocome"from unmeasured Abovethestaggering
girl. (214)
mind,"buttheparadoxis thatthepoet'simposed
''measure'givesaccessto themeasureless Other Suddenly I sawthecoldandrook-delighting
heaven
(50). Without suchheroicself-assertion, thepoet Thatseemedas though iceburned
andwasbutthemore
ice.... (125)
wouldremain, likeSapphoinLonginus's treatise,
broken-tongued, inthesamecondition as Soulin
'A DialogueofSelfandSoul,"whose"tongue's a A Heideggeriancall of conscienceblaststhrough
stone"(235),oras Soulin"Vacillation," "[s]truck thespeakerof "The Cold Heaven," as ifit werea
dumbinthesimplicity offire!"(252).Inthedialec- thunderboltout of Longinus:"Until I criedand
tic of thesublime, thepoetmustrisefromthis trembledand rockedto and fro,/ Riddled with
momentary death,the tonguerecoverfromits light."Otherpoems-for example,"The Magi"
muteness. By analyzing theformalstrategies of and part6 of "NineteenHundredand Nineteen"-
Yeats'ssublime lyricswecanconcretize thisgeneral are exercisesin themathematicalsublime,vision-
understanding of thepoems'to-and-fro between ary encounterswithan infiniterepetitionwhose
psychic annihilationandassertion, terror andjoy.9 formal correlativesare iterativesyntax("With

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 R. JahanRamazani
all their. . . / And all their. . . / And all their
[126]) and diction ("Violence . . . vio-
lence," "roundand round" [210]).11
"The Second Coming"conjoinsthemathemat-
ical and thedynamicalsublime.The initialstanza
is a vision of anarchicrepetition,a turningand
turningwithoutcenter,poundingin its firstline
withan insistentdactylicrhythm and, in its last
lines,leavingtheimaginationexhaustedbytheef-
fortto totalize:
Turningand turningin thewideninggyre
The falconcannothear thefalconer;
Thingsfallapart;thecentrecannothold;
Mere anarchyis loosed upon theworld....
(187)
Buttheterrifying beastthatburstsintothemindin
thesecondstanzaseemsmoretheviolentfatherof
thedynamicalsublime,whomthepoem attempts
to introjectin orderto quell. This crisscrossing
of
the mathematicaland the dynamical sublime
shouldnotsurprise us,sinceevenKantdoesnotdis-
tinguishbetweenthemwithconsistency. Similarly,
"The Magi" is about an exhaustionthroughrepe-
titionof thequest:
Now as at all timesI can see in themind'seye,
In theirstiff,paintedclothes,thepale unsatisfiedones
Appear and disappearin theblue depthof thesky
Withall theirancientfaceslikerain-beatenstones,
And all theirhelmsof silverhoveringside by side,
And all theireyesstillfixed,hopingto findonce more,
BeingbyCalvary'sturbulenceunsatisfied,
The uncontrollablemystery on thebestialfloor. (126)
The repetition
of thequestis duplicatedwithinthe
poet's mind,thepoet holdingwithin"the mind's
eye"thequesters'"eyesstillfixed."Out ofthelyric's
enactment of theirrhythmical appearanceand dis-
appearance,whichcreatesthemathematicalsub-
lime'stexture of "on and on," eruptsthelastline's
unpredictable and "uncontrollable mystery"
(126).12
In a passage worthyof Longinusor Kant,Yeats
describesthisdynamicof thesublime:
Does notall artcomewhena nature,thatneverceasesto
judge itself,exhaustspersonalemotionin actionor de-
sireso completelythatsomethingimpersonal,something
thathas nothingto do withaction or desire,suddenly
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167
starts
intoitsplace,somethingwhich isas unforeseen,
as
completelyorganised,evenas unique,as theimagesthat
passbeforethemindbetween sleepingandwaking.
(Autobiography
222)
The Imaginationcollapses and the Reason starts
intoplace withitstranscendental knowledgeofthe
infinite.The roughbeast and the uncontrollable
mystery shatterthetexture of therepetitive
mental
act of attempting to graspreality.
In genericterms,
the Yeatsiansublimearises when one "exhausts
. . desire"in quest-romance or itstemporalin-
verse,elegy.The mindcan no longerstraintoward
libidinalobjects:
I think
thatwewhoarepoetsandartists,notbeingper-
mittedtoshootbeyondthetangible,
mustgofrom desire
toweariness
andso todesireagain,andlivebutforthe
moment whenvisioncomesto ourwearinessliketerri-
blelightning. (Mythologies340)13
A Longinianflash,thesublimeripsunpredictably
throughYeats'selegiac cyclesof desire,the mind
transported beyonditsobjects.The "insolentfiend"
lurchesintoviewat theendof "NineteenHundred
and Nineteen"onlyafterthemindhas weariedit-
selfin theeffortto hold ontothehorses'breaking
circleof movement(210).
Whirling, gyring,spiring-theYeatsiansublime
oftenbolts out of such rhythmic and repetitive
movement. In "The WildSwansat Coole," thepoet
triesto counttheswans,setting inmotionthemen-
taloperationthatKantdescribesas themathemat-
ical sublime:
Thenineteenth autumn hascomeuponme
SinceI first
mademycount;
I saw,beforeI hadwellfinished,
All suddenlymount
Andscatter ingreatbroken
wheeling rings
Upontheirclamorous wings. (131)
The repetitive
actofcountingcollapsesas theswans
mountabovethepoet,transporting hismindwith
an intimationofincalculableaggregates.Thesebro-
kenringsreappearas thewideninggyreand reeling
desertbirdsin "The Second Coming" and as the
breakingequestriancoursesin "NineteenHundred
and Nineteen."The movement is sublimebecause
it setsin motionthecircleof Coleridgeanformal-
ism and breaksit apart.
168 Yeats:TragicJoyand theSublime
For Yeats this figureis emblematicof eternal
recurrence, a concepthe shareswithNietzschebut
modifiesto allowfortemporalvariation.One ofthe
mostimportant historicallinksbetweenYeatsand
the sublime is, in my view, Nietzsche's ewige
Wiederkehr. 14 Nietzschegenerally avoidstheterm
sublime,or das Erhabene,buthe does occasionally
use itto describetragedy, as whenhe saysthatthe
sublime"subjugatesterrorbymeansof art"(Birth
52; Werke49). Further, I wouldliketo suggestthat
hisnotionof eternalrecurrence is a covertversion
of the mathematicalsublime,thoughhe would
neveradmitsucha debtto Kant.ForbothNietzsche
and Kant,theintuitionarrivessuddenly;it comes
fromthefailure toconstellate realityintohigherand
higheraggregates;it is an intuitionnot subjectto
empiricaltests;and itis a revelation of theinfinite
thatis at onceempowering andterrifying. Nietzsche
and Yeatsbothtakemuchpridein theirabilityto
reconcilethemselves to eternalrecurrence, as Yeats
announcesin "A Dialogue of Self and Soul":
I am content
to liveitall again
Andyetagain,ifitbe lifeto pitch
Intothefrog-spawn ofa blindman'sditch,
A blindmanbattering blindmen. ... (236)
Here the poet imagineseternalrecurrence in a
personalratherthana historicalsenseand arrives
at a viewof itthatapproximates Freud'srepetition
compulsion,anothermodernversionofthemathe-
maticalsublime.The poet willshis endlessreturn
to theblindnessofinorganicmatter.Butthisaffir-
mationoftheeternal,autochthonous return is also
compensatory. The kinshipbetweeneternalrecur-
renceand thesublimeshouldhelpus see thateven
thoughboth Yeatsand Nietzschethinkthattheir
beliefin recurrence indicatestheirreleasefromthe
spiritof revenge,or illwilltowardtime,itis in fact
an illusionthatallowsthemto thinkthattheyhave
transcended time,thattheycan livean infinitenum-
beroflives,and thattheyhavetherefore escapedthe
threatening scytheofthefatherbeyondall fathers.
Because the sublimemay be viewedas the at-
temptto identify withthefatherand thusovercome
thethreatofdeath-or ofwhatpsychoanalysis con-
sidersitsunconsciouscorrelative, symboliccastra-
tion-Yeats's images of the sublimeare perhaps
apotropaicrepresentations of thisthreat.Manyof
hissublimelyricshavelatentimagesofdecapitation
or castration.Heads withoutanyclearconnection
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withtheirbodiesfrequently appearinthesepoems.
"The Magi" have "ancientfaceslike rain-beaten
stones,"out of whichtheireyesstarefixedly(126).
Sucha RockyFace reappearsin"The Gyres,"where
itis a totemicreminder ofthepaternallawofneces-
sity,and thus also an apotropaicemblemof the
Medusanfate.Thismaskand thegeneraltheoryof
themaskinYeats-theseverance ofbeingfromself-
identity-maybe in partmediationsof castration
anxiety.At the end of "NineteenHundred and
Nineteen,"thehead of RobertArtissonalso looks
petrified, "his greateyeswithoutthought/ Under
the shadow of stupid straw-palelocks," and it
"lurchespast"withtheautomaticmovement ofthe
roughbeastin "The Second Coming"(210). Both
incubusand beast have the same blank gaze and
nightmarish dissociationof head frombody.The
lateplaysA Full Moon in Marchand TheKing of
theGreatClock Towerfeaturecastrativebehead-
ingsas theirprincipalsymbolic action.In "The Sec-
ond Coming,"the"head of a man" is fixedontoa
"lion body" (187). The fetishistic image encodes
simultaneously theaggressive,
repressed fatherand
thecastrationthathas threatened theson. In rhe-
toricalterms,itis a violationof decorum,forithas
muchin commonwiththeexamplesthatHorace
considersat thebeginningof theArspoetica:
Ifa painter
shoulddecidetojointheneckofa horseto
a humanhead,andto laymany-colored feathers upon
limbstakenfromhereorthere,so thatwhatis a comely
womanaboveendedas a dark,grotesque fishbelow,
couldyou,myfriends,
ifyouwereallowedtoseeit,keep
fromlaughing? (51)
The sublime breaks throughdecorum and the
wholenessof thebeautiful.It is a roughbeastthat,
as theseerof"The SecondComing"putsit,"[t]rou-
bles mysight."
It mayalso troubletheear.The rhythms, phone-
micpatterns, and rhetorical
figures oftheYeatsian
sublimeproducethe impressionof formlessness
breakingthroughformor, in Yeats's terms,of
Transfigurationoccurringparadoxicallywithinan
aestheticof Incarnation(Letters402). Although
Yeatsuses thewordsublimesparingly, he borrows
Castiglione'snotionof sprezzatura,or "reckless-
ness," a pre-eighteenth-century categoryforthe
nonrationalin artthatanticipatestheconceptof
thesublime(Monk, "Grace"). The verystrictness
of Yeats'stightlycontrolledaural patternsmakes
 R. Jahan Ramazani 169

rhythmic variationsseemall themorereckless.His The endingsof theselyricsalso exemplify the

fewcommentson thesubjectaccordwiththeLon- manyrhetorical figuresthatLonginusassociates
giniandoctrinethatinsistently repetitive
rhythms withthesublime:therhetorical
question emphasiz-
can maketheauditorecstatic.Butthesublimity of ingthemomentary ofemotion
quality arisingfrom
thismathematicalpoundingaccelerateswhen,at theoccasion,asyndeton thereading
hindering while
theendof hislateriambiclyricsinthismode,Yeats pressing
itonward, anaphoracombining withasyn-
suddenlyobtrudesintothespeechrhythm a poly- detontoforce meaningtoleapahead,andso forth.
syllabicword that contains a dactyliccadence, As Longinus saysofDemosthenes, "His orderbe-
breakingapart the predictablesequence:punish- inturnacquires
hisdisorder
comesdisorderly, a cer-
ment,turbulence,uncontrollable,terrible,Beth- tainorder"(483;480-89).Theseformal strategies
lehem, indifferent,darkening, monuments, combine to hurrythemindoutof form, reaching
unfashionable,glittering.This intrusionof rhyth- towardwhatYeatscalls,echoingShelley's epithet
micchangeoftencoincideswiththesuddenheight- forthewestwind,the"uncontrollable."'6 In the
ening of alliterativeresonances,especially the earlyYeats, thepoeticquestfor"disem-
incontrast,
voicedstopsb, g, and d: "beautyis born,""Beth- bodiedbeauty"fallsshortofthesublime, lacking
lehemto be born,""glitteringeyes,aregay,"and so thecomplementary impulsein thelaterYeatsto
on."5These dark sounds heightenthe effectof "createform"andworkthrough it(Letters402).
boundless powerand mystery thuddinginto ex-
istence: III. TheCurse
. . . andstricken Yeats'slaterlyrics sometimes carryrecklessness
Bytheinjustice oftheskiesforpunishment? to theviolentextreme of thecurse.Exaggerating
("TheCold Heaven"125)
certainfeatures ofthesublime, thecursecanhelp
unsatisfied,
turbulence
BeingbyCalvary's usanalyzefurther thepsychic andrhetorical struc-
mystery
Theuncontrollable on thebestialfloor. tureoftheYeatsiansublime. In theireagerness to
("TheMagi"126) assumethevoiceoftheaggressive father,poemslike
"TheGyres" and"UnderBenBulben"seemtowill
Arechanged,changedutterly:
thedestruction they contemplate.Indeed,virtually
A terrible
beautyis born. ("Easter,1916"182)
all thepoemsoftragic joydrawon thecursemo-
Andwhatroughbeast,itshourcomeroundat last, dally.Theyrevealthedestructive urge,or death
Slouchestowards
Bethlehemto be born? drive,at workin thepoeticsof thesublime.We
("TheSecondComing"187) shouldkeepthisbroadaffinity inmindas welook
atmoredirect manifestations ofthecurseinYeats's
Weareblestbyeverything, proseandpoetry. BothAllenGrossman andHugh
welookuponis blest.
Everything
Kennerdiscuss"The Fish"as an instance of the
("A DialogueofSelfandSoul"236)
Irishgenreofthecurse,butthecursesurfaces in
beakcouldletherdrop?
Beforetheindifferent manyotherlyrics, essays,and stories(Grossman
("Leda andtheSwan"215) 162;Kenner 108-10).TheolderYeatsentitles a trea-
tiseOn theBoileroutoffondness fora madship's
upona darkening
Wheretheswandrifts flood. whowoulddenounce hisneighbors
carpenter and
("CooleParkandBallylee,
1931"245)
thewicked times. Inanother lateself-portrait,
Yeats
Thatdaybrings thatbefore
roundthenight, dawn callsthe"cursing" Oedipushis"newdivinity." As
His gloryandhismonumentsaregone. earlyas thestory "TheCrucifixion oftheOutcast,"
("Meru"289) Yeatscelebrates thecurse.Mistreated at a monas-
tery,a gleemansetsa tubupsidedownunderhis
. . . andall things
run
window andmounts itto"singa bard'scurseonthe
On thatunfashionable gyreagain.
("TheGyres"293)
abbot"(Mythologies150).Lestthegleeman teach
thecursetochildren androbbers, theabbotdecides
Theireyesmidmanywrinkles, theireyes, to crucifyhim.Forthemonks,thecursetypifies
Theirancient eyes,aregay.
glittering poeticspeechbecauseofthewayitviolently and
("LapisLazuli"295) unpredictably transforms If leftalive,the
reality.

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170 Yeats:TragicJoyand theSublime
gleemanwouldcursewhenever "themood to curse
wouldcomeuponhim,"hissoul,path,and purpose
as unfixedas thewind(Mythologies151,153).But
whilethecurseis a spontaneousand directspeech
Hartmanobserves,one
act, it is also, as Geoffrey
of the oldest kinds of formalizedspeech (130).
Howeversudden and unpredictablethe urge to
curse,the speakersseem possessedby a language
and passion beyondthemselves,as in the other
modes of thesublime.
Yeats'sfirstfull-fledgedcursein rhymeappears
inthestory"Red Hanrahan'sCurse."A younggirl
who mustmarryan old man asks Red Hanrahan
forhelpbecausesheunderstands thecurseto be the
poet'sversionof thelextalionis:"whenitis people
of thisearththathave harmedyou,it is yourself
knowswellthe wayto put harmon themagain"
(Mythologies240). Models of tragicgaietyforthe
olderYeats,Oedipus and KingLear wishon those
who havehurttheman equivalentpain of thank-
lessnessor destruction.The younggirlin Yeats's
storyinadvertently woundsRed Hanrahanbytell-
inghimhe is old, so thathiscurseseemspartlyan
attemptto recoverfromthis subversionof his
potency.LiketheagingLear and Oedipus,Hanra-
han cursesto regainand dramatizethismasculine
potencyand aggressivity. Seeingan old and gap-
wingedeagle and notingthat it resembleshim,
Hanrahangoes on to curseceremoniously notonly
his old, oedipal fathersbut also himself:
The poet,Owen Hanrahan,undera bush of may,
Calls down a curseon his own head because it withers
grey;
Then on thespeckledeagle-cockof BallygawleyHill
Because it is the oldest thingthatknowsof cark and
ill.... (243)
He cursestheage,impotence, and deathassociated
withthefather, butin doingso,he also assumesthe
voiceofthefather, so thatthecursebecomesa self-
cursetoo.Hereas intheothermodesofthesublime,
therelationof poetto fatheris simultaneously
one
of identification
and aggression.As he curses,the
poet comes dangerouslyclose to turninghimself
intotheforceofdeathto avoidbecomingitsvictim.
But Hanrahan'scursebackfires: hispresumptionin
adoptingthefather's voicebringsdownon himthe
fatherly"Old Men," as wellas "Old Age and Time
and Wearinessand Sickness"(245). The cursere-
dounds on thecurser.
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"The Fascinationof What's Difficult"maybe
Yeats'smostpowerfulabsorptionof thecurseinto
lyric,and itis also a paean to thesublime(93). Like
Hanrahanand Lear,thespeakerof thispoem be-
ginshis denunciationin a momentof impotence,
theblockageorproleptic deaththatsetsthesublime
in motion:
The fascinationof what'sdifficult
Has driedthesap out of myveins,and rent
Spontaneousjoy and naturalcontent
Out of myheart.
Sprezzaturahas beenlost,butevenas thepoetbe-
ginsto describehis deadness,he startsto recover
fromit,forthetropeof rendingis itselfa sublime
figureof dislocation.It transforms
thedestructive
powerof difficulty intothefigurativeviolenceof
thepoem:
There'ssomethingails our colt
That must,as if it had not holyblood
Nor on Olympusleapedfromcloudto cloud,
Shiverunderthelash, strain,sweatand jolt
As thoughit draggedroad metal.
YeatspicturesPegasus,his imaginativepower,as
trappedunderthe weightof formand the every-
day."7But insteadof remainingunderneathop-
pressiveforcesof constraint,
thepoet is suddenly
"on" top of them:
My curseon plays
That haveto be setup in fifty
ways,
On theday'swarwitheveryknaveand dolt,
Theatrebusiness,managementof men.
The veryact ofuttering thecurserestores thepoet's
power.By willingdestruction on others,thepoet
defineshimself,restoreshissovereignty, and tran-
scendstheanonymity oftheeveryday. Buthiscurse,
liketheprotagonist's in PrometheusUnbound,is
also a self-curse,
foritfallspartlyon hisownwork.
Althoughitritually enumeratesitsintended objects,
italso seemsspontaneousand sudden,an influxof
powerafterblockage.Thisimpression is heightened
by the asyndetonsand unparallelobjects of the
curse.The poemendswitha fullrestoration of the
poet's strength:
I swearbeforethedawn comes roundagain
I'll findthestableand pull out thebolt.
 R. JahanRamazani 171

Counterto therepetitiverevolutions
of thesun,the toocanhelpus interpret tragicjoyinYeats.'9 Twice
poet asserts his own unpredictableand violent inRichardIII, forexample, Shakespeare tellingly
energyof self-disclosure. misremembers QueenMargaret's earlier"proph-
The curseis a spontaneousoverflowof powerful ecies" as "curses"(3.4.15-18,5.1.25-27).James
feelings,but the feelingsdischargedbelong to Kugelremarks inhisanalysis ofHebraicprophecy:
Thanatos ratherthan to Eros. In the sectionof "theprophet's speechhadalways beenpowerful, ef-
"Meditationsin Time of CivilWar" entitled"My itcouldbesaidofhimwhatwassaidofthe
fective;
Descendants,"thepoetcurses,in an extraordinary soothsayer Balaamben Be'or,'thosewhomyou
act of anticipatory
vengeance,thehomeof hisoff- blessareblessed,and thosewhomyoucurseare
springif theyshoulddegenerate: cursed'(Num.22:6)" (81). As speechacts that
simultaneously announce andtransform theshape
May thislaboriousstairand thisstarktower of reality,
prophecy and the curseunitetheword
Become a rooflessruinthattheowl withdivineauthority, thetranscendental signifier.
May build in thecrackedmasonryand cry Butwhereas thecursemoreobviously altersworld
Her desolationto thedesolatesky. (203) andwordbydisfiguring them, thecentral difficulty
about propheticutterance, and about Yeats's
The passage offersa sublimeimageof fragmenta- propheticlyrics,istherelation between passivewit-
tion,butitpurchasesitssublimity witha symbolic nessand activetransformation. In thetropesof
act of self-destruction,
displaced metonymically Shelley's"Defenseof Poetry," a document that
ontothedescendants'tower.LikeLear,thepoetde- Yeatsquotesextensively and approvingly, is the
fineshisownpotencybywillingtheruinof hiskin, propheticpoet"mirror" or"legislator"? Intheim-
buthe attacksthembywayof thetotemictower- ageryofthesublime, is hethedefeated sonorthe
the veryemblemof the poet and of the book of violentfather?Therhetoric ofprophecy inevitably
poems to whichthiscursebelongs.The object of drawsonbothstrands offigure, hoping toturnthe
aggressionis thusa figurefortheself,muchas the interpreter
ofreality intoitscreator, justas thesub-
uncannyskyis forthe owl thatcriesto it."8An- limeconverts thepassivevictim intotheheroic ora-
otherof Yeats'sbirdswithan uncannyshadowself tor."LapisLazuli"and"TheGyres"prophetically
leaps intotheskyin "NineteenHundredand Nine- envisiona brutaland violentworld;but they
teen,"prefiguringapocalypticcompletionand stir- attempt to altertheprophet's relation to vision,
ringthepoet to cursehis own work: changing elegiacsubmission intoactivecelebration.
Weshouldbecareful aboutequating Yeatswithone
That imagecan bringwildness,bringa rage
poleofprophecy or theother:insofar as hispro-
To end all things,to end
What mylaboriouslifeimagined,even
pheticlyrics
oftragic joyaresublime andnotfanat-
The half-imagined, thehalf-written
page. ical,theyinhabit thepsychic andrhetorical space
(209) ofbothwitness andlegislator. Thepoeticactivity
ofthesepoemsis "theshooting ofthegulf"-as
Writingis a veilbetweenthepoet and integration Emerson defines "power"-between spectatorship
withthe finalformof reality-death.The act of andcreation, whicharebothessential toprophecy
cursinghisownworkassimilates thepoetto thede- (271).Without thedefeated sonthere canbenofa-
structive"winds of winter,"windsthaterasethe ther;without thewitness, no legislator; andwith-
word and the world (209). Attempting to evade outtheelegist, no RockyFace.
death,thepoetidentifieswithit.The transcenden- Kantwarns,however, thatthesublimemaybe-
tal impulseof thesublimeis ultimatelyapocalyp- comefanaticism ifonegoes"madwithreason"or,
tic and self-destructive-arage not only against in thetermsof Freud'sGroupPsychologyand the
orderbut also againsttheselfand language. AnalysisoftheEgo, ifone allowstheheroicfather
orpolitician
toreplace
thesuperego (Kant116).We
IV. Prophecy,Apocalypse,and thePolitics havealreadyseenthatYeats'slyric
transformations
of the Sublime ofthecurseapproachsuchan extreme. Otherlate
lyricscomedangerously closeto celebratingthe
Anothermodalityof thesublime,prophecyhas fanaticismofcompleteidentificationwiththefa-
longbeenthoughtto be relatedto thecurse,and it therand destructiveness,
such as the canceled

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172 Yeats:TragicJoyand theSublime
"ThreeMarchingSongs."The apocalypticimpulse
in Yeatssometimes approachesthisextreme as well;
it sharesthealchemist's"consumingthirstforde-
struction" oftheworldandthe"half-written page,"
thelongingfora completeintegration of selfwith
"the desolationof reality"(Mythologies269-70;
Poems 289).
Anothergroupof Yeats'svisionarylyricsstrays
fromtheauthenticdynamicof thesublime.If we
thinkof apocalypsenotas conflagration butas the
disclosureand totalizationof reality, Yeatswrites
manylyricsthatassumean apocalypticperspective
towardhistory-thepanoramicor god's eyeview
thatWhitaker contrasts withthedramaticinYeats's
writing.Poemslike"The Valleyof theBlack Pig"
and "Two Songs froma Play" are in a mode of
prophecythatso distancesitselffromthedramaof
historythatit loses anysenseof contingency and
vulnerability-historical qualitiesallied withthe
sublimeas againstthe aestheticnecessityof the
beautiful.Thesepoemsillustrate whatwemightcall
Yeats'sprophetic binarism,fortheyarrangehistory
accordingto binaryoppositions,much like the
mythicmindin Levi-Strauss("StructuralStudy"
177-81). In the extraordinary earlynote to "The
Valleyof theBlack Pig," Yeatssetsup a seriesof
paradigmaticopposites-light/dark, winter/sum-
mer, sterility/fruitfulness-a dualistic tendency
reflected too in thepoem'sneatdivisionintofour
linesof violenceand fourof recoveryand prayer.
The poem'sreductionof theapocalypticbattleto
"unknown"sounds heard at a distancesuggests
thatthepropheticbinarismhas allowedthepoetto
controland miniaturizethe violentscene all too
well,helpinghimadopt theinvulnerable perspec-
tiveofthedestructive "Master":"theclashoffallen
horsemenand thecries/ Of unknownperishing ar-
miesbeat about myears" (65). "TwoSongsfroma
Play" also defeatsthesublimeterrorofviolentup-
heavalbycondensing historyintoantitheticalpairs:
Virgo/Spica,Athena/Dionysus,Mary/Christ.20
The propheticbinarismofthesepoems,likethatof
A Vision,muzzlesthesublime,and one mustask
whethersuch a poeticsof miniaturization some-
timesinuresthepoet to therupturesof history. A thewarriorin "UnderBenBulben"is lessastonish-
similartendency awayfromthesublimecan be seen
in thesynchronistic aestheticof Yeats'smodernist
contemporaries Eliot and Pound. Insofaras A Vi-
sion emphasizesviolentupheavals,abrupt con-
fluences of deity and man, dizzyingrotations
betweeneternally recurring antinomies,itis a sub-
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limevisionof history. Butinsofaras thiswork,like
some of the propheticlyrics,compresseshistory
intothecontrolledbinarypatternsof a miniature,
itmayfinallyfitmoreproperly intoan aestheticof
thebeautiful.2'
What is the political formof the sublimein
Yeats?As wehaveseen,thepsychological structure
of thesublimecan lead to identification withthe
violentfatherand,ultimately, withthedeathdrive;
hence, it helps to explain the attractionthat
authoritarianism and eugenicsheld forthe older
Yeats.EventhoughthekinshipbetweenYeats'slater
politicsand the psycholinguistic structureof his
sublimeremainsunremarked, Yeats'sbrief"flirta-
tion" withtheextreme rightcontinuesto generate
a greatdeal of scholarship,supplementing thema-
jor statementsbyElizabethCullingford and Conor
CruiseO'Brien.Butwemaystillhavethelingering
suspicionthatYeats'sabhorrent authoritarianviews
arenotthesolepoliticalpotentiality oftheYeatsian
sublime or of the sublime in general. Stephen
Spender claims that Yeats's apocalypticpoems,
suchas "The SecondComing,"werean important
sourceof inspiration forthe"intellectualLeft"of
hisowngeneration(Spender5-6, 13). How is that
possible? Maybe we should look at the literary
precedents oftheYeatsiansublimeto findoutmore
about its politicalparameters, askingwhetherits
violenceis partof a largerpoeticimpulseto use a
violencewithinto counteract theviolencewithout.
Ifso,thenmuchofwhatwecondemnintheselyrics
wouldlogicallyentaila condemnationof thesub-
limeas a whole.As pacifistswemaywellchooseto
rejectthe sublimealtogether,but can we legiti-
matelyrejectYeats'ssublimebecauseofitsviolence,
as Bloom does, and still praise the violence of
earlierversions?To getat thesequestions,wemight
considerfirsttheprecedentsforYeats'sdisturbing
exultationin war.22 Manyof Longinus'sexamples
of thesublimedescribecombator bloodshed,and
Kantarguesnotonlythatwevenerate thesoldierbe-
cause "his mindis unsubduedbydanger"butalso
that"[w]aritself. . . has something sublimeinit"
(102). Perhapsinthiscontextthepraiseof warand
ing,thoughformany(as forme)no lessdeplorable:
You thatMitchel'sprayerhaveheard,
"Send war in our time,0 Lord!"
Know thatwhenall wordsare said
And a man is fighting
mad,
 R. JahanRamazani
Somethingdropsfromeyeslong blind,
He completeshis partialmind,
For an instantstandsat ease,
Laughs aloud, his heartat peace. (326)
The sublimeis inextricablefromthedeathdrive,the
hero's"partialmind"resembling
the"half-written
page" of "NineteenHundredand Nineteen";both
mustbe destroyedin the search forapocalyptic
wholeness,a reunion,in Freud'sreductionof the
sublime,withinorganicmatter(PleasurePrinciple
36-39). If the mindis alwayspartialbecause it is
nevercompleteuntilextinguished, and ifwriting
is
alwayshalf-written because it neverabsorbswhat
itsignifies,
thenYeats'sapocalypticsublimeaggres-
sivelyattemptsto overcomethestructure of defer-
ral and desireinherentin everyscene of thinking
and writing(see Derrida87).
Shelleyand Blakeinverse,no lessthanLonginus
and Kantinprose,revealtheinevitableconnection
betweenthesublimeand violence.In Prometheus
Unbound,Shelleytriesto transcendtheattraction
of poeticviolencebydecontextualizing thesublime
curseand makingit an echo,but the forceof the
work'sLear-likerhetoric arisesinthefirstact from
Prometheus'swilling "endurance" of violence;
similarlytheWitchof Atlas,whomYeatsinvokes
at thebeginning of "UnderBen Bulben,"observes
strifeand suffering,yet"littledid thesightdisturb
her soul . . . " (Shelley, "The Witch of Atlas"
63.545).23In the propheticpoem America,Blake
celebratesOrc's"fieryjoy" in destruction (plate8,
line3). And thoughwe mayregretthattheRocky
Face knowsonlythewordRejoice,thiswordechoes
throughout theend of TheFour Zoas in response
to total destruction.If we recall the "irrational
streamsof blood" in "The Gyres"thathave un-
nervedcritics,and comparethemwiththestreams
of blood in "Nightthe Ninth,"it seems hardto
shareBloom'sviewofYeats'stragicjoy as uniquely
"[i]nhumane"(Yeats434-39):
Intothewinepressesof LuvahhowlingfelltheClusters
Of humanfamiliesthrothedeep. thewinepresseswere
filld
The blood of lifeflowdplentiful.
The poemappropriatesthepowerofthescene'svio-
lence,sharingtheapocalypticjoy of Luvah'ssons
and daughters,not themerelyhumandismay:
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173
How redthesons & daughtersof Luvahhowtheytread
theGrapes
Laughing and shoutingdrunk with odors many fall
oerwearied
Butin theWinePressestheHumanGrapesSingnotnor
dance
in fierceflames
Theyhowl& writheinshoalsoftorment
consuming..
The crueljoy of Luvahsdaughters withknives
lacerating
And whip[s]theirVictims& deadlysportsofLuvahssons
(Four Zoas 135,lines36-39; 136,lines 16-17,21-27)
These "Victims"aresacrifices to thesublime,their
pain essentialto thejoy assumedbythesons and
daughtersof Luvah and bythepoem itself.In all
versionsof the sublime,not just Yeats's,the mo-
mentofgaietypresupposesthepain or deathfrom
whichit rises.
Some recentworkson literary apocalypsesand
propheciesassertthatthesesublimemodesare in-
herently consistentwithpoliticallyradicalrevolu-
tion (see, e.g., Hoagwood 57). Derrida remarks,
"Nothingis lessconservative thantheapocalyptic
genre" (89). Others,such as Gary Shapiro,have
arguedthatthesublimehas strongaffinities with
fascism(216). No doubtthepoliticalformof the
sublime'stendency towardfanaticism is authoritar-
ianism.No doubt,too, thesublimeas a visionof
history privilegesviolentruptures ofthesortweas-
sociatewithrevolution, despiteBurke'scontradic-
torydislikefortheFrenchRevolution. The sublime,
inotherwords,is neither"left"nor"right,"though
it can be appropriatedbyeitherpoliticalrhetoric.
The "BeautifulNecessity"Emersonpraisesat the
end of theessay "Fate" and the similar'"Power"'
Shelleyinvokesin "Mont Blanc" mightbe used for
eitherfascistcelebrationsof forceor radicalvisions
of a forcethatcan "repeal/ Largecodes of fraud
and woe" (Emerson 967-68; Shelley, "Mont
Blanc,"lines16,80-81).The sublimedoes noteas-
ilyaccommodatecentrist and pacifistpolitics,but
it does not therefore belongto fascism.24 Yeats's
lyricsof tragicjoy turnthesublimein a reaction-
arydirection: in "The Gyres"thespeakercelebrates
destruction becauseitushersina feudalpoliticalor-
der,and in "My Descendants"he cursesthehome
of his childrenif theyshould marryinto a lower
174 Yeats:TragicJoyand theSublime
class. Butthesepoliticalviewshaveno exclusivere-
lation to the Yeatsiansublimeor to the sublime
generally,anymorethantheHeideggeriansublime
is intrinsicallyfascistic-even though fascism,
partlyby adoptingthe Romanticsublimeforits
ownpurposes,provedattractive to bothYeatsand
Heidegger.Because thesublimecan rouseus from
the blind and timidpoliticsof the everydayand
grantus the"courage,"as Kantcalls it,to faceour
owndeathswithanticipatory resoluteness(Heideg-
ger'sEntschlossenheit), it is potentially
an instru-
mentof radicalism,evenin Yeats.
TwoplaysillustratehowtheYeatsiansublimead-
mitsof a widerpoliticalappropriationthanmost
criticshaveunderstoodand how Spender'sgener-
ation could therefore read the poems againstthe
grainof Yeats'sown authoritarianviews.In The
King's Threshold,Yeats exploresthe subversive
potentialof tragicjoy. Having deprivedthe poet
Seanchan of his traditionalrights,the kingcom-
pares his own institutional bonds to the anarchic
sublimityof verse:
ButI thatsita throne,
Andtakemymeasure fromtheneedsoftheState,
Call hiswildthoughtthatoverrunsthemeasure,
Makingwordsmorethandeeds,andhisproudwill
Thatwouldunsettle all,mostmischievous,
Andhehimself a mostmischievous man.
(Variorum
261-62)
Seanchan'spoeticthoughtis measureless, breaking
throughall form,and thusdangerousto thehier-
archiesof state.His laughteris an energythatde-
fies all boundaries,even the final boundaryof
death.He declaresin hisfinaltaunt:"King! King!
Dead faceslaugh"(310).In theplayYeatsalso links
Notes
1Harold Bloom alone invokesthesublimeto interpret Yeats.
But he restrictshimselfto the sublimeof influenceand, even
while celebratingthe transcendenceof the human in earlier
Romantics,condemnsas inhumanethelyricsthatseemto me
to manifesttheYeatsiansublime.Comparehisresponseto what
hecallsYeats's"[i]nhumane nonsense"(Yeats438)withhispraise
forThomasWeiskel'sassertion:"theessentialclaimof thesub-
limeis thatmancan,in feelingand in speech,transcend thehu-
man. A humanisticsublimeis an oxymoron"(Bloom,
Forewordvii;Weiskel3). In a lateressayon Yeats,Bloomrevises
hisnegativeviewof theYeatsiansublimebutrefers dismissively
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thesublimeto a repugnant racialtheoryofmastery
bythe "white-bodied"(310),but,again,it has no
inherent and exclusiveconnectionwithsuchviews.
In The UnicornfromtheStars,thepeasantsinter-
pretMartin'ssublimevisionoftheapocalypseas a
prophetic call forrevolution
and forthedestruction
of theiroppressors-theEnglishLaw and enslav-
ing Church (Variorum684-85). The play turns
againstsuch an interpretation of the apocalypse,
Martinthinkingin the end that the destruction
mustbe ethicaland internal.Theoristsnow com-
monlydistinguish betweentheconservatism ofthe
internalapocalypse (associated withAugustine)
and the revolutionary orientationof the external
apocalypse(associatedwithLuther).25 But in this
play,Yeatsshowsthatthetropesfortheouterand
innerapocalypse,as forthenaturaland psycholog-
ical sublime,are easilytranslatedintoeach other.
If we regarddeathas theoccasion of thesublime,
themovementfrominnerto outerbecomesintel-
ligible,sincedeathis neitherone northeother.And
perhapsweshouldbe moreawarethatYeats'splay
conceivesof radicalactionas a potentialarticula-
tionof thesublime,ifnottheone itprefers. On the
basis of suchrevisionary readings,Spendercould
go so faras to claimthatthecommunist "apocalyp-
ticvision"was compatiblewithYeats's(13). Even
thoughhe and otherpoetsofthethirties wouldul-
timately rejectYeats'sapocalypses,andeventhough
Yeatswillneverbe a heroof theleft,theYeatsian
sublimemaystillbe susceptible to thekindoftrans-
valuationthat Auden describesin his elegy for
Yeats:"thewordsof a dead man/ Aremodifiedin
thegutsof theliving"(197).26
University
of Virginia
Charlottesville
to thepositionI elaboratehere:thatthe"daemonicor Sublime
is thusmerelyanotherevasionof theunacceptablenecessity of
dying"(Poetry209). Yeats'srelationship withBlake and Shel-
leyis theprimarysubjectof Adams's Blake and Yeats,Born-
stein'sYeatsand Shelley,and Bloom's Yeats.
2 Much workhas been done to synthesize thesublime,rang-
ingfromMonk'sclassic,TheSublime,to Weiskel3-33. Forthe
similarities
betweenLonginusand EdmundBurkeon thesub-
lime,see Fry,Reach 60-61. In thisessayI drawon Fry'sdiscus-
sion, whichassimilatesKant's mathematicaland dynamical
sublimeto Longinus'sversion;on Weiskel'ssynthesis;and on
 R. JahanRamazani
Hertz's interreadingof Longinus, Burke,Kant, and Freud
("Notion").
3 More recentcriticshaveunnecessarily compartmentalized
the theoriesof tragedyand the sublime.The sublimeis not a
genre,and itstheoristsare happyto emphasizeitsfluidmove-
mentacrossgenericboundaries.Nevertheless, thesublimehas
an affective structureand a rhetoric-amongthequalitiesthat
definegenre-and so it mightbe thoughtof as an extended
mode,relatedin turnto othermodes,such as theapocalyptic
and the curse(fora discussionof mode, see Fowler106-07).
Engelberg(166-77), Reid, and Patridesrelate"tragicjoy" to
tragedy, as does Yeatshimself.Forthecounterassociation ofthe
sublimewiththecomic,see Shapiro'scommentson Hegel and
Marx (225-26) and Modiano's genealogyof thecomicsublime
(231-39).
4 For an analysis of the ambivalenceof the sublime,see
Fletcher243-52.
5 Bloom acknowledgesYeats'sresistance to thedeathof the
"object-world"; itmakesYeatspossiblyone ofthelast"Sublime"
poets (Poetry209). Bornsteinalso bringsout thisantinatural-
ism in Yeats'svisionarypoems (Transformations 27-30).
6 Kenneth Burke's"thesaurus"ofthenecessary"deflections"
of deathdiffers frommine(cf.Burke369). Nothingitself,death
exemplifies and exaggerates thehiddenmetonymical structure
of thesublime,and indeedof all naming,because deathmust
inevitablyundergotranslation.A literal-minded readingof
Yeats'smythof theafterlife would,of course,annultheimpor-
tanceofdeathinanyoftheseforms, butitwouldalso be incapa-
ble of explaininghislyrics'moreambivalentrepresentation of
deathas an occasion forcourage.
7 On the oedipal or preoedipalnatureof the sublime,see
Hertz,"Reading,"and Weiskel91-106.For myanalysisof the
interrelation betweenoedipalidentificationandaggression, I also
borrowfromLacan (Speech 79; Ecrits8-29).
8 Guerlac'sversionof Longinussometimes approachessuch
a view,thoughheranalysisis generally Withthehelp
insightful.
ofthelaterHeidegger, Guerlacarguesagainsttheaffective theory
of thesublimebecause "feeling"obscuresthethreatof therhe-
toricalsublimeto thesubject'sself-identity.
ButHeidegger's anal-
ysis of the intersubjective basis of Stimmung'mood,' and
especiallyofMitbefindlichkeit 'co-state-of-mind,'
preserves the
affective sublimewithoutendorsingan ideologicalconceptof
the self.
9 Whitakerdescribesthesetwomomentsin theearlyapoca-
lypticromancesas thepsychicannihilationof "Rosa Alchem-
ica" and the complementary inflationof "The Tables of the
Law,"theself-negating Christand theself-assertingLucifer(44).
10As BrendaWebsterarguesof Yeats'sbirdand sword,the
concentrated imagemaybe thoughtof as a "talismanicobject,"
a "defenseagainstfearsof nothingness and loss of individual-
ity"(207). It mayalso be likenedto Hertz'smomentof "figura-
tive reconstitution"in the sublime after the moment of
"disintegration" ("Reading" 14).
11Hillis Millerreadsthe figurative movementof "Nineteen
Hundredand Nineteen"as a violentrevolving withoutcenter
(347).
12 Weiskeluses thephraseon and on to describethemathe-
maticalsublime(22).
13 For an elaborationof Yeats'scentralaesthetictenetson the
basis of thispassage,see Vendler28.
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
175
14 See Essays 288. On eternal or ewige Wieder-
recurrence,
kehr,in Yeatsand Nietzsche,see Bohlmann57-68. For another
generaldiscussionof Yeats'sdebtto Nietzsche,see Oppel.
15 AlthoughtheolderYeatswas fondof suchwordsand such
soundsin general,theyconvergein a numerically higherquan-
tityat theendsofhislatersublimelyricsthantheydo elsewhere.
Theybothintensify and surpassthegeneralstylistic freedomof
hisverseinthisperiod.The characteristic variations inmeter-as
in stanzaand rhyme-havebeenamplydescribedbycriticsfrom
Gross(48-55) to Parkinson(182-91)and Doughertyand need
not be rehearsedhere.
16 Shelleyaddressesthewindwiththeapostrophe"O Uncon-
trollable!"in the "Ode to theWestWind," line47.
17 Remaking himself,Yeatssimultaneously converts twoanti-
sublimepoetsintoprecursors of hissublimity. In 'An Essayon
Criticism," Pope grudgingly allowsforthewaywardness ofPega-
susand thensuggeststhatthereis a semisublimity or "Gracebe-
yondtheReach of Art" (lines 150-55). Further, Yeats'sverbal
pileupechoesBen Jonson'ssatiric"Ode to Himself":"Run on,
and rage,sweat,censure,and condemn. . . thoughthynerves
be shrunk,and blood be cold . . . thystrain. "(lines 9-10,
45, 49).
18 On the relationof uncannydoublingto the sublime,see
Fry,"Possession" 196-201.
19On Yeatsand prophecy,see Stallworthy. Whitakeroffers
thebestanalysisof theapocalypsein Yeats,emphasizingitsin-
ternaland alchemicalnature(34-54).
20 For a discussionof thepairsin "Two Songs froma Play,"
see Ellmann260-63;on miniaturization and binarism, see Levi-
Strauss,The Savage Mind 16-33.
21 Whiteuses the regulative aestheticcategoriesof the sub-
lime and the beautifulto analyze the disciplineof history
(125-37).
22 For an overview of Yeats'sthoughton war,see Farag.For
Bloom'spositionon Yeats'sviolence,see,forexample,theread-
ingsof "The SecondComing,""Lapis Lazuli,"and "The Gyres"
in Yeats.
23 Yeatssuppressesthisside of Shelleywhenhe derideshim
forbeing"terrified of theLast Day likea Victorianchild" (Es-
says 420).
24 I do notwish,however, to exaggerate thepoliticalflexibil-
ityof thesublime.The sexualpoliticsof thesublimehas tradi-
tionallybeenantifeminist, and westillneeda fullfeminist review
ofthesublimeas theviolentagon of fatherand son or as a mas-
culinewarwithdanger.Forthesereasons,as wellas forpacifist
concerns,we may ultimatelydecide to rejectthe sublimeal-
together, as long as we do so consistently. But,in myview,we
mightalso attemptto constructa versionof the sublimethat
would be compatible with certain formsof revolutionary
feminism.
25 See Lewis 184-235. Douglas RobinsoncriticizesLewis's
distinction butgoes on to arguethattheAugustinian, spiritual
viewis "suitedto politicalconservatives" as against"implicitly
revolutionary predictiveinterpretations"-anassertionthat
wouldseemto be contradicted byrecentfundamentalism in the
UnitedStates.See Robinson'shelpfulintroductory analysis(17).
26 My thanksgo to RichardFinneran,Paul Fry,Thomas
Whitaker, and GeorgeWrightfortheirvaluablecommentson
earlierdraftsof thisessay.
176 Yeats: TragicJoyand the Sublime
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