이 논문의 목적은 예이츠의 「초등학생들 사이에서 Among School Children」, 특히 이 시의 마지막 행 “어떻게 우리가 춤과 춤꾼을 구별할 수 있겠는가”를 메를로-퐁티의 현상학적 지각의 개념을 통해 접근함으로써 또 다른 읽기의 가능성을 탐색하는 것이다. 메를로-퐁티가 내세우는 지각은 절대적 내재성이나 외재성으로 작동하기 보다 세계에 대한 ‘신체적 현존’으로 이해된다. 명징하고 통일된 주관과 지각 대상의 구분을 거부하는 신체적 현존을 통한 경험은 세계와 대상을 끊임없이 ‘태동하는 상태’에 있는 것으로 파악한다. 예이츠 시의 핵심을 지속적인 자기갱신과 변화로 정의하면서, 변화에 대한 개방성을 특징으로 하는 예이츠 시가 어떻게 메를로 퐁티의 현상학적 지각 개념을 통해 잘 포착될 수 있는지 살펴본다.

William Butler Yeats’s poem “Among School Children” is a meditation on love, essence, and change. This paper attempts to relate the Buddhist theories of essence and change to the core philosophical premises of the poem itself. Furthermore, through two specific Buddhist texts, Milindapanho by Nàgasena and Mūlamādhyamikakārikā by Nagarjuna, the paper illustrates similarities in terms of imagery and philosophical ideas in the specific stanzas of the poem, highlighting a philosophical foundation in musings on love and essence as they emerge in the poem.

본고는 ｢학생들 사이에서｣에 나타나 있는 불교적인 개념을 살펴봄으로써 예이츠가 불교를 어떻게 이해하고 있으며, 그가 수용한 불교의 개념이 무엇인가? 그리고 그가 어느 정도까지 수용하고 있는가를 살펴보는 것을 목적으로 하고 있다. 서론부분에서 예이츠가 불교에 접하게 된 계기 및 과정을 고찰하여 예이츠의 작품을 불교적으로 해석하는 것이 무리가 아님을 논증한다. 시인이 불교에 대하여 알지 못하거나 불교를 접한 바가 없다 하더라도 시인의 작품을 불교적으로 해석하지 못하는 것은 아니다. 그렇지만 시인이 불교에 접하고 불교를 알고 있었다면 그의 작품에 그 영향이 남아 있을 수 있다. 그렇기 때문에 그의 작품을 불교적으로 해석하는 것이 보다 타당할 수 있다.

W. B. Yeats’ “Among School Children” was the result of the poet’s visit to an elementary school. Apparently, it seems to be the record of his visit and his imagining Maud Gonne’s life and his life. When it is closely examined, it is proved to contain his philosophical thoughts regarding the reality and actuality. As is well known, Yeats lost his interest in Christianity early in his childhood and studied the mysticism, the esotericism, the occultism, and the Orientalism including the old Indian philosophy and Buddhism from childhood to adulthood. Sometimes he studied the various pagan philosophy systematically and sometimes unsystematically. It is natural that his poetry shows the reflection of his philosophy as his poetic aim was to put himself into the poetry. This paper proves the influence of Buddhism on his poem, “Among School Children”. The first chapter deals with the background of this poem’s making and surveys the contents of this poem. The second chapter summarizes his study of Mysticism and the Indic philosophy focussing on Buddhism. This chapter also explicate the main ideas of Buddhism; the Great Wheel, the emptiness, non-self-being, metempsychosis, the Law of Karma, etc. The third chapter examines the poem “Among School Children” in the light of Buddhism. First the poem is proved to be based on the idea of the Great Wheel. The speaker and the persons who are imagined by the poet are chained to the Wheel and cannot escape from it. They have to be reincarnated according to the law of Karma, that is they are suffering the metempsychosis. The law of Karma emphasizes relativity/relatedness among objects. The people named and/or appeared in this poem are related to each other, and have no self-being. The fourth chapter discusses the poem’s development from dualism to monism. Western philosophy is basically based on dualism but Buddhism is monism. We can conclude that Yeats’ thoughts on the actuality and the reality are based on monism in this poem. But his acceptance of Buddhism was not literally, but he adopted and changed it to his purpose. His “Unity of Being” is originated from Buddhism but is not the same as that of Buddhism. He insists that the real life should be valued when the spirit and the body come to be united. In Buddhism, all the actuality is emptiness itself, but Yeats affirms the actuality. In Buddhism, reincarnation and/or re-living is taking different body from the former body, but Yeats thinks we are reincarnated or re-live by feeling and accepting other people’s selves. These are main points of difference between Buddhism and Yeats.