The Cap and Bells and Love Song:I and thou
Both the poems Love song: I and thou and The Cap and Bells explore different representations of love. Each of the poems, however, present love in very different ways. Where Alan Dugan displays his view on marital love in an unromantic manner within his poem Love song: I and Thou, Yeats' The Cap and Bells differs by showing the readers a view on a romantic or obsessive love which is unlikely to be requited, due to the difference in social rank in their society.
William Butler Yeats' The Cap and Bells depicts the behaviour of love through an account of actions between a jester and a Queen. Through the use of many symbolic references, the characters reflect a lover's actions to his loved one. His use of a jester in love shows us that Yeats is portraying the actions of humans in love as foolish. Through this song-like ballad, the reader strongly feels the growing despondency of the jester and the eventual affection of the queen. Yeats uses a strong use of symbolism to suggest that love makes a fool out of every man. From forfeiting the soul, the heart and finally his own identity, Yeats emphasises the willingness to sacrifice all the elements of existence to feel the passions of love.
As Yeats opens with, "The jester walked into the garden," he immediately establishes the idea of the Garden of Eden as it is the first natural place of affection between a man and a woman. Continuing we read how the jester, "bade his soul rise upward." Here the man is offering his soul to the queen who is above him both physically and in social status. This could perhaps have been triggered by his obsession with the actress Maud Gonne, her being the queen to his jester. It rises in a "straight blue garment," the colours symbolising his hope for his love to be reciprocated, and the sincerity of his confession of love to the queen. The owls, which represent wisdom, 'call' a warning to him but he takes no heed of it. Yeats uses enjambment in this second stanza to give a sense of flow
William Butler Yeats' The Cap and Bells depicts the behaviour of love through an account of actions between a jester and a Queen. Through the use of many symbolic references, the characters reflect a lover's actions to his loved one. His use of a jester in love shows us that Yeats is portraying the actions of humans in love as foolish. Through this song-like ballad, the reader strongly feels the growing despondency of the jester and the eventual affection of the queen. Yeats uses a strong use of symbolism to suggest that love makes a fool out of every man. From forfeiting the soul, the heart and finally his own identity, Yeats emphasises the willingness to sacrifice all the elements of existence to feel the passions of love.
As Yeats opens with, "The jester walked into the garden," he immediately establishes the idea of the Garden of Eden as it is the first natural place of affection between a man and a woman. Continuing we read how the jester, "bade his soul rise upward." Here the man is offering his soul to the queen who is above him both physically and in social status. This could perhaps have been triggered by his obsession with the actress Maud Gonne, her being the queen to his jester. It rises in a "straight blue garment," the colours symbolising his hope for his love to be reciprocated, and the sincerity of his confession of love to the queen. The owls, which represent wisdom, 'call' a warning to him but he takes no heed of it. Yeats uses enjambment in this second stanza to give a sense of flow