A great deal of his poetry, whether literal or figurative, overflows with a woman named Maud Gonne. At times I'm not sure if it is more painful to read about her or if it was more painful for Yeats to write about her. Either way, it seems pathetic and overbearing to think that someone could be so consumed with a person, especially one who did not reciprocate the same feelings. As an outsider looking in, it appears that the relationship was unhealthy for both of them. He was clearly in love with her beauty and unconventional character, and she simply might have looked at him as a friend. Whether she was leading him on to believe she was interested in him romantically is another story.
In his poem, “No Second Troy,” he gives the reader the impression that he has such ambiguous feelings towards Maud at the time it was written. He provides evidence that he is being sarcastic throughout the poem, as well as being harsh at times. This can most be attributed in lines 1-5. Can anyone say suffocation?
Like so many of Yeats’ poetry variation of consumption is a major theme, such as in “To the Rose upon the Rood of Time,” “The Sorrow of Love,” and even “Sailing to Byzantium.” By reading more and more of his work, I am beginning to believe he had a very obsessive and complex personality. Yeats is wishy-washy throughout all of the poems he produced in regards to Maud. He is unable to control himself or contain stable emotions anytime he discusses her. Hence, my new diagnosis for Yeats, it is called: Obsessive Consumption Disorder!
What it comes down to is this: if his poetry is any indication of the way he acted around Maud, we can certainly understand why there was not a mutual romance between them.
However, beyond all of the Maud Gonne madness, there was a man who produced other profound works that were a lot less pathetic and a lot more passionate—which is what we love about him.
Oh, Yeats.
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