청금석 부조 는 W. B. 예이츠가 중국을 주제로 다룬 시이다. 중국적인 것에 대한 제한된 지식으로 인해 시인은 그 테마를 정확하게 이해하지 못한 채 중국 청 금석 부조에서 받은 영감을 받아 이 시를 썼다. 이 논문은 중국적 요소가 지닌 본래의 의 미와 예이츠의 재현을 자세히 비교함으로써 예이츠의 상상력이 실제로는 오독에서 비롯 된 것이며 따라서 일부 예이츠 학자들의 해석이 오해에 근거하고 있음을 보여준다.

예이츠와 엘리엇은 그들의 이력과 작품에 동양사상, 특히 불교의 영향을 짙게 보여준다. 자신들이 불교의 영향을 받았다고 말하기도 했고, 불교를 깊이 있게 천착하기도 하였다. 이들의 작품이 불교적인 색채를 보이는 것은 당연하다. 본고는 이들의 삶이 불교와 어떤 관계를 맺고 있는지, 그리고 작품에는 불교 사상이 어떻게 표현되어 있는지를 살펴본다.

예이츠의 초기 시 ｢방황하는 엥거스의 노래｣는 자연의 영혼들, 특히 숲속 요정 소녀의 혼을 불러내어 영적 교류를 나누려는 초혼제 성격을 보여주는 면에서 초자연적 샤머니즘 성격을 갖고 있다. 하지만 61세 때인 ｢어린 학생들 사이에서｣에 이어 70세 생일을 기념하여 쓴 ｢청금석 부조｣ 후기 시들은 예이츠가 공인으로서 동시에 전문 시인으로서 자연의 영혼들과 교감하고 신화의 정신을 복원해 삶의 본질을 가르치고, 이로 현실에서 사회, 문화, 종교문제를 개혁하려는 네오 샤머니즘 정신에까지 진화하고 있다. 예이츠의 네오 샤먼적 이미지는 시인으로서 음악, 춤, 주술에 가까운 예술의 혼을 통해 세상의 모순과 갈등을 건강하게 해결하려는 모습이며, 현실에서는 노년에 터득한 세월의 유쾌함을 세상에 가르치려는 모습이다.

One of Yeats’s distinguished later poems, “Lapis Lazuli”, which was inspired by a Chinese lapis lazuli carving he received as a gift from a young man of letters, declares the values of artistic activities as a creator as well as preserver of civilizations. In the poem, the poet as a poetic persona constructs vivid vision beyond the real world, breathes in the invisible fragrance that doesn’t really exist and appreciates the unheard melodies from the still object of art. The old ascetics imagined out of the carved still-life meditate upon the tragic scenes beneath their feet from the mountain they ascend towards. Fictitious creatures in a created world of sculpture stare on the real world with old wisdom transfiguring dread. Yeats had not presented all the significant experiences as successfully as he illustrated in this poem. He made the real fictional and in turns, turned the fanciful ideas into real things. The old glittering eyes of those Chinamen in the last stanza are more authentic than the hysterical women who complain with wrong, shrill and cracking voices in the first stanza. The roles of the poet also become mythic as the Chinese do who are distant, old, wise and gay in the hard stone. The poet penetrates into the domain of art work silently and looks back on a poor play of life from the gaiety of his own art. The description of the last stanza in a form of sonnet is much like the controlled carving of a sculptor. And it eternalizes artistic performances by transforming a visual art into a linguistic imagination, and thus by re-creating the scene depicted in the stone in a pleasant manner. As the artist imagines scent and music and movements in the given poetic object, the sculpture attains values stimulating observers’ perception permanently. The Chinese art work with two ascetics and one pupil carrying a musical instrument will continue to mutate in the mind of readers as it receives multiple senses through the poem.

It is well-known that Yeats had a very deep interest in the Oriental Thoughts throughout his life. In this paper, the focus is laid on his interest in Buddhism. Many of his friends and teachers, such as George Russel, Edward Dowden, Madame Blavatsky, Shri Purohit and Mohini Chatterjee introduced Buddhism to him and their friendship were lifelong. This paper examines the relationship between “Tragic Joy” in his poem “Lapis Lazuli” and Buddhism. In a letter to Dorothy Wellesley, Yeats confessed that as the east has its solution, the westerners must raise the heroic cry. His confession implies his object is oriental solution or the solution in the viewpoint of the union of oriental thoughts and occidental thoughts. The main theme of the poem, “Lapis Lazuli” is tragic joy. The characters created by artists aren’t afraid of death and play their roles to the end. Accomplishing their roles, they feel joy, though they know their roles are not reality and reality itself is empty. This attitude isn’t different from that of Buddhism. Buddhism sees that the Reality itself is empty. Though artists realize nothing can last forever, they create artifacts and feel joy in repeated creation. It is certain that Yeats believes that the source of all the existing things is the mind. All the things in the world are reflection of the mind and emptiness itself. To realize this truth is tragic but to create again is a joy.