Notice that the poem below, just like other poems featured in previous posts, features a box of seemingly random words. These are words that I found to be repeated in at least one other poem I have chosen for this project. The purpose of this list has yet to be determined so for now it is merely a point of interest. If some viable connection can be made between the reoccurring words than perhaps it is something that can inform the imagery that is chosen the TTP (The Tengwar Project). For instance, some of the words like "fire/flame" and "air/wind" appear in almost every poem chosen. Now my reading on alchemical symbolism (which appears in most of the pieces I've chosen to use) tells me that fire and air were considered to "temper" (or exercise control over) each other as elements.
fire = Mastery of this element provided one with the ability to express divine love and it was the chief agent of transmutation in the alchemical process. Compared to the sun by alchemist Nicholas Flamel (fire heats furnace & vessels :: sun heats Earth), Alchemy itself appears to have been known as the art of fire. In New Light of Alchymie, Micheal Sendivogius described the element this way. "Fire is the purest, and most worthy Element of all, full of unctuous corrosivenesse adhereing to it, penetrating, digesting, corroding, and wonderfully adhereing, without visible, but within invisible, and most fixed, it is hot and dry and tempered with Aire." Make of that what you will. Oh yes, and for all you HP geeks out there, I was surprised to discover that Nicholas Flamel was once an actual human being as well.
air = Mastery of this element provided one with the brotherhood to all life. In a poetic sense, the most important thing about air seems to be that alchemists often referred to volatile spirits as being "airy." That reference seems to imply that the element of air was considered very difficult to master. Micheal Sendivogius had this to say about it. "The Aire is an entire Element, most worth of the three in its quality, without, light and invisible, but within, heavy, visible, and fixed, and when it is fixed it makes every body penetrable." Far more clear than his description of fire, the most important information seems to be that M.S. believed air to be of much higher value than all the other elements combined. Could this be due to it's difficulty to tame?
Since I am now operating on the (informed) assumption that the poetry is infused with alchemical symbolism, it only makes sense to start examining the reoccurring words under that type of microscope. At the moment I'm noticing a couple of things that could be important about fire and air.
1) Even though fire is at the heart of alchemy (the art of fire), it is air that M.S. claims to be of better quality. In a poetic sense, this bestows a sense of noblesse upon the usage of this word. (i.e. In The Song of Wandering Aengus Yeats notes that a "glimmering girl" fades through the "brightening air." On one level this is just a case of a feminine apparition. Could it be, however, that the manner in which this female figure disappeared speaks to the value this woman has in the poem? After all, the next stanza discusses exactly what the author would do should he ever find this woman again.)
2) It was believed that if one could master fire, perhaps more metaphysically than literally, than they would be capable of expressing divine love. Since alchemy was considered the art of fire, one can only assume that learning to control this element was not entirely impossible. On the other hand, air was considered volatile. The ability to master this element provided one with a gift far better than divine love - the brotherhood of all life. For those of you who don't know, one of the key goals of alchemy was the creation of the philosopher's stone. (Yes this was pre-existing as well - Rowling did not pull it out of her top hat.) It was believed that should one ever create this "stone" it would not only be able to turn base metals into pure gold, but that it would also possess the base metal to make all imperfect things perfect. Hey! That sounds a good bit like achieving "brotherhood of all life" doesn't it? Perhaps the mastery of air was just as elusive as the creation of the philosopher's stone. Just as the alchemists believed the two elements had the power to control the other, or at least balance the each other out, perhaps Yeats used them int eh same manner poetically. (i.e. In Wandering Aengus, which is the only poem I've fully dissected to date, the author states "I went to blow the fire-a-flame/ But something rustled on the floor." What was it that kept him from lighting a fire? None other than the girl who faded into "the brightening air." Again I could be nit picking, but it almost seems too much of a coincidence to ignore completely.)
All that is to say, that there is a whole lot going on behind the scenes as I try to pull these drawings together. Everywhere I turn there seems to be a new angle. While there is a danger of getting so caught up in the different angles that I lost in information overload, that doesn't seem like it will be too much of a problem. Things are clearly spelled out in my head, and the task really at hand is to assess any new information I'm faced with, pass it through the Irish myth/Alchemy filter and keep what is applicable. The risk to this method lies in the fact that I'm anything but an expert on either subject. To opportunity in the method is that TTP is turning out to be much more of an academic experience than I could have ever dreamed. How exciting!
No comments:
Post a Comment