The Romantic Tradition and W. B. Yeats’s Early Poetry

Abstract

Yeats’s early poetry is divided into two parts: his early narrative poetry and his symbolic poetry. However, all of his early poetic works are deeply involved in the romantic tradition. This shows that his early poems followed the romantic quest. His romantic elements were on mythology, a quest of the ideal world, a pursuit for transcendence, and the use of images and colorful symbols. On his early poetry, the romantic elements were related to the search for an ideal world and eternal beauty. “The Two Titans” tells an heroic attempt, and “To the Rose upon the Rood of Times,” “The Rose of the World,” “The Rose of Peace,” and “The Sorrow of Love” have been for many centuries a symbol of spiritual love and supreme beauty. Those works greatly praise Maud Gonne’s beauty. On his early poetry, Yeats displayed a romantic temper, the tradition of romanticism, and a quest for the beauty of an ideal world.