Cycle of Life Explained in A Vision :: Vision Essays

Cycle of Life Explained in A Vision      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Butler Yeats' accomplishments as a writer are varied. From his in depth and philosophical poetry to his alarming and enlightening A Vision, his work has been widely read by English scholars and religious philosophers. Although A Vision is extremely hard to understand completely, Yeats' overall concept is easy to fathom. What happens where Christianity leaves off? What is the cycle of life, and where does time begin and end? These are all questions that mankind has continually asked since the beginning of recorded time. The "how" and "why" of life and death has intrigued mankind for thousands of years. Always wanting to know more has been the motivating force in the lives of many great philosophers and thinkers since Plato and Aristotle. Yeats, like his predecessors, tries to answer these questions in A Vision. Through the use of the gyres and the notion that time and the elements of time are forever, Yeats successfully conveys his beliefs on t he principles and details of life and death in relation to the ultimate whole of the universe. The cycle of life is explained in excruciating detail, making total comprehension tedious. However, a close look at Yeats and some of his other writings enables the reader to better understand exactly what Yeats tries to say in A Vision.    Simplifying A Vision is no easy task. Yeats himself was a complex man with intricate and different ideas on the existence of man. He was born in Sandymount in 1865 while he was raised in London, Dublin and Sligo. In 1884 Yeats studied painting in Dublin for three years before moving to England to pursue a literary career. He married George Hyde Lees in 1917 after having been in love with the Irish patriot Maude Gonne for over thirteen years. "After her marriage to another Irish political leader, Yeats finally admitted defeat in love and turned his full attention to his work" (English Literature, 641). During this time, Yeats was involved in the Irish National Movement which sought to free Ireland from England's rule. Before his involvement in politics, Yeats founded the Irish Literary Society in 1892. In addition, he founded the Irish National Theatre Society where he wrote several plays based on Irish legends.