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Difference between revisions of "W.B. Yeats"
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===Later life=== | ===Later life=== | ||
At the age of 69 he was 'rejuvenated' by | At the age of 69 he was 'rejuvenated' by a Steinach operation (consisting of a half-vasectomy, to shift the balance from sperm production toward increased hormone production in the affected testicle) which was performed on 6 April 1934 by Norman Haire. For the last five years of his life Yeats found a new vigour evident from both his poetry and his intimate relations with younger women. During this time, Yeats was involved in a number of romantic affairs with, among others, the poet and actress Margot Ruddock, and the novelist, journalist and sexual radical Ethel Mannin. As in his earlier life, Yeats found erotic adventure conducive to his creative energy, and, despite age and ill-health, he remained a prolific writer. | ||
From 1935 to 1936 he travelled to the Western Mediterranean island of Majorca with Indian-born Shri Purohit Swami and from there the two of them performed the majority of the work in translating the principal Upanishads from Sanskrit into common English. | From 1935 to 1936 he travelled to the Western Mediterranean island of Majorca with Indian-born Shri Purohit Swami and from there the two of them performed the majority of the work in translating the principal Upanishads from Sanskrit into common English. | ||
==Death== | ==Death== | ||
[[File:Yeats Grave.jpg|400px|thumb|Gravesite of W.B. Yeats]] | |||
He died at the Hôtel Idéal Séjour, in Menton, France, on 28 January 1939, aged 73. He was buried after a discreet and private funeral at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Attempts had been made at Roquebrune to dissuade the family from proceeding with the removal of the remains to Ireland due to the uncertainty of their identity. His body had earlier been exhumed and transferred to the ossuary. | He died at the Hôtel Idéal Séjour, in Menton, France, on 28 January 1939, aged 73. He was buried after a discreet and private funeral at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Attempts had been made at Roquebrune to dissuade the family from proceeding with the removal of the remains to Ireland due to the uncertainty of their identity. His body had earlier been exhumed and transferred to the ossuary. | ||
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==Involvement with the occult== | ==Involvement with the occult== | ||
Yeats had a lifelong interest in mysticism, spiritualism, [[occult]]ism and [[astrology]]. He read extensively on the subjects throughout his life, became a member of the paranormal research organisation "The Ghost Club" in 1911. His mystical interests, inspired by a study of [[Hinduism]], formed much of the basis of his late poetry. During séances held from 1912, a spirit calling itself "Leo Africanus" apparently claimed it was Yeats's [[demon|Daemon]] or anti-self. | Yeats had a lifelong interest in mysticism, [[spiritualism]], [[occult]]ism and [[astrology]]. He read extensively on the subjects throughout his life, became a member of the paranormal research organisation "The Ghost Club" in 1911. His mystical interests, inspired by a study of [[Hinduism]], formed much of the basis of his late poetry. During séances held from 1912, a spirit calling itself "Leo Africanus" apparently claimed it was Yeats's [[demon|Daemon]] or anti-self. | ||
===Golden Dawn=== | ===Golden Dawn=== | ||
During 1885, Yeats was involved in the formation of the Dublin Hermetic Order. That year the Dublin Theosophical lodge was opened in conjunction with Brahmin Mohini Chatterjee, who travelled from the Theosophical Society in London to lecture. Yeats attended his first séance the following year. He later became heavily involved with the Theosophy and with hermeticism, particularly with the eclectic [[Rosicrucian|Rosicrucianism]] of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]]. | During 1885, Yeats was involved in the formation of the Dublin Hermetic Order. That year the Dublin Theosophical lodge was opened in conjunction with Brahmin Mohini Chatterjee, who travelled from the Theosophical Society in London to lecture. Yeats attended his first séance the following year. He later became heavily involved with the [[Theosophy]] and with hermeticism, particularly with the eclectic [[Rosicrucian|Rosicrucianism]] of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]]. | ||
He was admitted into the Golden Dawn in March 1890 and took the magical motto ''Daemon est Deus inversus''—translated as "Devil is God inverted." He was an active recruiter for the sect's Isis-Urania Temple, and brought in his uncle George Pollexfen, Maud Gonne, and Florence Farr. Although he reserved a distaste for abstract and dogmatic religions founded around personality cults, he was attracted to the type of people he met at the Golden Dawn. He | He was admitted into the Golden Dawn in March 1890 and took the magical motto ''Daemon est Deus inversus''—translated as "Devil is God inverted." He was an active recruiter for the sect's Isis-Urania Temple, and brought in his uncle George Pollexfen, Maud Gonne, and Florence Farr. Although he reserved a distaste for abstract and dogmatic religions founded around personality cults, he was attracted to the type of people he met at the Golden Dawn. | ||
In 1901, with the dissensions in the Golden Dawn, Yeats questioned the validity of the mysterious [[Cipher Manuscripts]] in a privately published a pamphlet titled ''Is the Order of R.R. et A. C. to Remain a Magical Order?''. He became involved in the Order's power struggles, both with Farr and [[Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers]], and was present when Mathers sent [[Aleister Crowley]] to repossess Golden Dawn paraphernalia during the "Battle of Blythe Road." After the Golden Dawn ceased and splintered into various offshoots, Yeats remained with the Stella Matutina until 1921. | |||
Yeats was an early influence on child prodigy [[Frederick Santee]], having met him while Santee was pursuing his graduate degree at Oxford. | |||
===Automatic writing=== | ===Automatic writing=== | ||