In the Seven Woods

I might be completely misreading this, but “The Folly of Being Comforted” seems to reflect the tension Yeats had with his father; or at least his father’s generation. The “one that is ever kind” has a paternal element to his voice. He tells the narrator “though now it seems impossible, and so/All that you need is patient.” Ellman describes a senior Yeats as loving but abrasive towards Yeats’ inner beliefs – particularly his Christian faith.

The “kind one’s” voice seems pragmatic and perhaps atheist. He matter-of-factly reminds the narrator about old age and death and urges him to take comfort in the wisdom that comes with frailty. The narrator objects for strange, evasive reasons. His defiance is adolescent and disorganized. He seems to want the other to be wrong more than he can demonstrate that he is wrong.

Interestingly, the narrator does not contradict the other out loud. It is “Heart” that speaks against the “folly of comfort”, implying that this is an internal and silent retort. I can picture Yeats’ father talking down to him and young Yeats saying nothing though he fiercely disagrees.

Of course it’s unlikely that Yeats’ sole intention is to express his frustration with his father. But he might be drawing from his own experiences as he constructs these two characters.

“The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Water” also seems to emphasize generational divides. The oldness of the men is their most prominent feature. It warrants the doubling of the word “old. Their oldness is violent and ugly. They have claws and “their knees were twisted like the old thorn-trees”. The short poem manages to be more complex than a crack at the elderly. It is saddening to hear them bemoan their contingency. This delicate contradiction reminds me of Yeats’ indecision in Ellman’s account. He strongly opposed his father’s atheism and prayed every day. Inexplicably, however, Yeats would often defend atheist ideas from students and friends in debate. Yeats seems similarly torn in this poem between identifying with the old men and caricaturing them.