Question

This poem defines a dramatic ideal of “character isolated by a deed / To engross the present and dominate memory.” Robert Bly’s anthology of “poems for men” takes its title from this poem’s closing image, which Jerome McGann connected to Henry Mayhew and the author’s Cuala Press. The speaker relates how the “fanaticism and hate” that enslaved the soul of his “dear” inspired him to write of a “pity-crazed” woman who “had given her soul away / But masterful Heaven had intervened to save it.” (15[1])This poem lists the (*) “burnished chariot” from The Unicorn (-5[1])from the Stars, the Blind Man from On Baile’s Strand, and The Countess Cathleen among the speaker’s “old themes.” (-5[2])This poem (10[1])ends, (10[1])“Now that my ladder’s (10[1])gone (10[1])/ I must lie down where all (10[1])the (10[1])ladders start (10[1])/ In the foul (10[1])rag and bone shop of the heart.” (-5[2])For 10 points, what late W. B. Yeats poem analogizes his old ideas to the title performing creatures? ■END■ (10[3]0[2])

Buzzes

Summary