| Wow! This poem is really confusing. Obviously the Emperor represents something, but whar? He is not very well guarded for his soldiers are asleep in bed, drunk as ever. Perhaps there was a celebration of some sort. Latter they are mentioned as being marbles, or in other words mere pawns. Yeats keeps saying that men are mere complexities, as though they are not really what matters, simply part of the bigger picture. The second stanza appears to serve only to show that people are complex. We are simply shadows in the overall plan or going on. If tied in wiht the last line, perhaps people are represented by the dolphin, who have torn the sea of life. The gong could represent morals or religion, perhaps which would torment humaity during its existence. Looking at it a different way, in reference to the fire, maybe Yeats is making a statement about Ireland and how its nationalixm was being fueled by the English soldiers. It could never be extinguished for it was a part of the complexity wich people were. The mentioned blood could be that which was shed at events like the Easter Rebellion in an effort of Ireland to break free from the confines of the English. It could also be somehow related to the Civil War that went on in Ireland. We can explore the line about mummies. Is Yeats saying that the dead have all the answeres to lofe and our complexities. Can they 'unwind the winding path' or does it mean something totally different? There is definitely something superhuman going on. Maybe Yeats is combing mythological tales with what he sees in the world around him. One can go in so many directions with this one. |