Yeats for his life pursued the completion of self, creating “half-self” as a kind of dialectical self and borrowing transcendental power by medium to reach the origin or presence of Thing Itself as the esoteric way of “auto-writing” shown in A Vision. On the other hand, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, protagonist in Perfume: The Story of A Murderer born with a sense of smell challenges making the essence of perfume risky of life, finally to kill women for creating a supreme perfume possible to fascinate everyone. Accordingly, both have something common as alchemists desiring a universal spiritual or exoteric solvent: the former immerges into enhancing spiritual ennoblement as a result of inner revelation, while the latter ventures his life to attempt the perfect combination of materials through numerous experiments to enchant all that smell the perfume, even those suspicious of charlatanism promising elixir of life.

『세븐우드에서』에 수록된 시들은 각기 다른 독립적인 주제를 갖고 있지만 이 시들을 다시 전체적인 맥락에서 보면 상당히 교묘하게 꾸며져 한 이야기를 구성하게 된다. 이 이야기 속에는 주인공이 그 자신의 고뇌와 문제점들로부터 해방되기를 원하며 이를 위해 태양과 달의 결혼이라는 상징으로 여겨지는 자신만의 성배를 찾아 떠나는 여정이 그려진다. 이 성배는 신비주의 연금술의 산물이다. 예이츠가 여기에 매료된 것은 물질적인 영역에서 평범한 철을 철학자의 돌을 이용하여 금이나 은으로 변하게 하듯이 영적인 영역에서 인간의 몸을 완벽한 영혼의 소유자로 재탄생 시킬 수 있다는 이 시스템의 믿음 때문 이었다. 따라서 반인 반수가 의미하는 상징은 연금술적인 함의가 내재 되어 있는 것이다. 그러나 『세븐우드에서』의 여정을 통해 시인이 끊임없이 반복하는 주제는 신비주의 연금술의 마지막 목적인 남성상과 영성상의 신비적인 결합은 이 세상에서는 이루어질 수 없다는 것이다. 그러나 우리는 그 자신만의 성배를 찾기 위한 시인의 끈질긴 노력을 통해 우리는 시인의 예술적 상상력의 쉼 없는 진화를 목도하게 되며 이것이 바로 예이츠 예술의 정수이다

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between W.B. Yeats's obsession with mysticism and his nationalism in his early years (1885-1895). My basic argument is that he knocked at the door of mysticism to find a metaphysical symbol with which he could unify politically, religiously, and culturally divided Ireland. In fact, Yeat's turn to mysticism in his early years attracts many scholars's attentions. But a reading of many studies on this topic leads us to believe that Yeats studied mysticism for other purposes. Elizabeth Cullingford and Richard Ellmann argue that Yeats's preoccupation with mysticism was his antipathy to materialism which was prevalent due to the Industrial Revolution. Seamus Dean explains Yeats's interest in mystical and occult traditions as his efforts to establish an Irish cultural identity. Denis Donoghue maintains that Yeats wanted to separate Irishness from Englishness by dedicating himself to the study of mysticism. In addition to these purposes, I believe, one of Yeats's political agenda was to unify various cultural, religious, and political forces of Ireland before the turn of the century. Yeats firmly believed that the identity of the Irish should be based upon intellectual life and spiritual principles which could solve and transcend the cultual, religious, and political discords of Ireland. The spiritual creeds Yeats was looking for should be founded on the common Irish spirit which could appeal to the Irish whether they were Anglo or Gaelic, Protestants or Catholics, or Unionists or Separatists. In other words, spiritual principles should not be confined to one church. In this sense, Yeats’s choice of Indian thought and occultism is suitable because they have universal appeal. Yeats believed that Indian thought would provide Ireland with the common spiritual tradition which predated both Catholicism and Protestantism. Furthermore, the religious concepts of pantheism and mysticism were the very ideas Yeats needed to bring the conflicting religious and political parties into perfect harmony and balance. Namely, Yeats tried to find a metaphysical model for the unity of Catholics and Protestants through the mystical union.

This paper aims to study the transformation of Yeats and his poems through alchemy. Yeats was a spiritualist who believed in the soul and life after death. However, European society and culture had been dominated since the 18th century by rationalism and materialism, which were opposed to spiritualism. Thus the period and society in which Yeats lived were diffused with materialism and rationalism. The prevailing commercialism, materialism, realism and democracy of the period were derived from such materialistic and rational thought. Nevertheless, spiritualistic movements which tried to restore spirit and inspiration developed both before and after the beginning of the 20th century. Mysticism, symbolism, the pre-Raphalite movement and aristocracy could be said to be included in these movements. Yeats was also deeply interested and involved in mysticism and symbolism, especially alchemy which had been handed down secretly as a part of mysticism. To him alchemy functioned as a kind of instrument for transforming and developing himself and his art. Alchemy originally aimed to transform base metals into gold, to extract the fine from the coarse, and to redeem spirit from matter. But some philosophers and artists allowed themselves to become objects of alchemical transformation. They were inclined to use alchemy as an instrument to achieve their spiritual development and secular perfection. In his earlier period, Yeats tried to escape into the “essence” through alchemical practice, but later he used alchemy as a means to develop and create himself and his art. For example, in his earlier poems, he attempted to fly into the supernatural world through the rose image which he learned from alchemical principles, and he was able to attain a spiritual union with Maud Gonne through a spiritual marriage. The rose and the spiritual marriage, however, can be said to be unrealistic concepts in which there is only an ascent to heaven but no a descent back to earth. But after his marriage with Hyde-Lees, he recognized and accepted the materialistic world, including desire and the life instinct, by fulfilling both the ascent to heaven and the descent to earth as part of alchemical principles. Therefore he can be said to be an alchemical poet who was able to achieve secular perfection and spiritual development in the materialistic world through alchemical discipline and development.

엘리엇은 네 사중주 에서 시간과 공간을 초월하는 정지점을 탐구한다. 이 탐구는 고대와 중세의 연금술사들이 광물을 금으로 바꿀 수 있는 현자의 돌 또는 라피스를 찾는 탐구와 유사하다. 그들은 현자의 돌의 원질료라 할 프리마 마테리아(prima materia)가 자연의 네 원소인 흙, 공기, 물, 불에서 나온다고 믿었다. 엘리엇 역시 네 사중주 에서 자연의 네 원소를 탐구한다. 엘리엇의 흙은 흑암과 연결되지만 긍정과 부정이 공존한다. 네 사중주 에 나타난 물 요소 역시 죽음과 삶의 자연적 리듬을 반영한다. 번트 노튼 의 장미원은 연금술의 현자들의 장미원과 일치하며 대극의 합일을 통한 개성화 과정을 나타내고 있다. 물의 대극으로서 불 또한 이중적 의미를 갖는다. 천상으로부터의 긍정적인 빛과 지하계로부터의 부정적 불이 그것이다. 이 네 요소를 바탕으로 삼라만상이 삶과 죽음 그리고 부활을 반복하면서 끝없이 순환하며 정지점이 그 중심에 있다. 결국, 연금술사들은 그들이 탐구했던 현자의 돌이 물리적 세계가 아닌 자신들의 의식 속에 있음을 깨닫게 된다. 엘리엇의 정지점 역시 현자의 돌과 마찬가지로 우리의 의식에 있으며, 이 정지점은 시간과 무시간, 그리고 순간과 영원을 매개하는 그리스도이다.