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(Poems, p. 239)
Tower:
"I . . . dream
of
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This analysis of Yeats's adaptations and developments of the birdsoul equation accomplishes several
things. First of all, it shows reason
why the Yeats reader must be on
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his guard against too readily accepting the prevalent notion that the
late poetry is almost always unclear
and difficult. Even the beginner can
recognize conventional meanings
and values in many of Yeats's central symbols if he is not scared away
before he ever gets the chance.
Next, this analysis suggests interpretational possibilities for several
passages involving bird figures, especially those in the two late Cuchulain pieces, whose birds would
almost surely be puzzling unless the
reader had some knowledge of
their cumulative relationships. But
last, and most important, the tracing of the bird-soul motif in Yeats's
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