1) He heard while he sang and dreamed/ the piper piping away,/and never was piping so sad,/ and never was piping so gay.
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The bread and the wine had a doom,/ for these were the host of the air;/ He sat and played in a dream/ Of her long Dim hair.
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O'Driscoll scattered the cards/ and out of his dream awoke:/ Old men and young men and young girls/ Were gone like the drifting smoke.
The imagery this poem evokes, took my breath away the first time I read it. It is quite possible that this has become my second favorite Yeats poem ever - nothing can usurp The Stolen Child.
2) Pretty self explanatory. There is apparently no alchemical symbolism in this poem. there is, of course, the possibility that a mere novice such as myself is simply not knowledgeable enough to decipher any that is buried in the text. However, for the sake of simplicity, this artist will operate on the assumption that none exits in the text until proven otherwise.
3) Here is where Host of the Air gets fascinating. Once breath was regained after the first read, the first thing that stuck out was that the main character (O'Driscoll) constantly refers to Bridget or Bridget his bride. While this could simply be a name, it bears noting that not only is Bridget (Brighid, Bridgit/etc) the Irish mythological equivalent of Minerva or Athena; but it is also the name of a much revered saint (Brigid of Kilgare) who is considered the second patron saint of Ireland. "Mere coincidence," you say. Perhaps, but this is where I'm going to claim artistic licence. I rarely use the "artistic licence" card, so I figure that it can be used this time without much remorse. With my mythological/Irish Saint angle in mind, look below to read some fo the notes I scribbled frantically last weekend over a chicken bruchetta sandwich at Applebees (highly recommended - just hold the pesto.) It's a good thing that the hostess ushered me to a four person table, because there were papers everywhere!
The Bride/Bridget connection
O'Driscoll consistantly calls Bridget "his bride." Another name for Bridget (whom I will call Brigid from now on) is "bride." In fact in Ireland, Imbolc/Candlemas (Brigid/St.Brigid's holiday/feast day) is sometimes called Lá Fhéile Bride, thus utilizing this form of the name. More on Imbolc and Candlemas later.
Brigid the goddess and Brigid the saint are connected how?
I started to post this information here but it ended up being far far too long. be looking for a new blog post that describes this in the very near future.
So the name Brigid appears constantly, how do you know it's not just a regular person and not a goddess at all? What is keeping Bridget his bride from really being just that - the bride/wife of O'Driscoll?
This is a very valid question, and for all intents and purposes there really is no reason to not believe that the poem's Bridget is who O'Driscoll says she is - his bride. Initially, however, I have a number of problems with this.
1) It is Yeats who wrote the poem. Very few poems that I've read by him actually say what they say, especially when there in any possible other meaning and mythology or the occult could be involved. [Note: occult is being used here in its original meaning beyond the range of ordinary knowledge or understanding; mysterious.]
2) A number of key words in the poem center around festivities (bread, wine, dance, piper). People both old and young are present and cards are being played while the piper plays on. While a couple of phrases support the idea that the celebration could be a wedding and Bridget was indeed "bride."
He bore her away in his arms/ the handsomest young man there
The dancers crowded round him/ and many a sweet thing said ... But Bridget drew him by the sleeve/away from the merry bands
However, there seems more possible that it was not a wedding celebration, with constant references being made to the macabre. Last I checked, sad and doom were not words associated with joyous nuptials. Secondly, I would have to do more research on the subjects, but it seems a bit odd that old men would be playing cards (gambling?) during a wedding party. Finally, the title The Host of the Air implies interaction with supernatural beings. Why would the poem be titled that, and then spend eleven stanza discussing O'Driscoll's dream about his wedding-which-was-not? It makes more sense to attribute the dream's festivities to something tied to a supernatural being - thus building a case for Brigid the goddess.
Ok, so let's pretend for a second that Yeats Bridget the bride is the same as Brigid the goddess, why her and not some other Celtic goddess/god.
You, my imaginary audience, ask very good questions. In my mind, the answer is very simple. Whether Brigid or St. Brigid be the object of scrutiny, their jurisdictions (for serious lack of a better word) are much the same. The Celtic goddess Brigid was described by Lady Augusta Gregory (Gods and Fighting Men, 1904) as a woman of poetry, and poets worshiped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. ... Considered by some to be the Celtic equivalent of Minerva or Athena, Brigid was well loved by the Celtic peoples and the Druids. Not only the protector of poets, she also oversaw the areas of blacksmithing and healing. She was celebrated during the festival of Imbolc (one of the four pinnacle festivals of the Irish calendar) which centers around fire and purification; and marks the transition from winter into spring. Some of the information I read said that the festival was perhaps the precursor to the American holiday of Groundhog Day. Therefore, we have a couple reasons this poem could be about the goddess. Not only was she the protector of poets (Yeats was a poet), but she was also a very well loved being of spiritual significance in her time, and had a significant holiday dedicated to her honor.
As for St. Brigid, like the goddess, she is also the patron of poets/scholars and blacksmiths. While she isn't the patron of any key healing professions, she is connected to children, babies, midwives, children of unmarried parents, and newborns. Since Spring is the season of new birth, it is possible that a connection to the previously mentioned festivities in that manner. St. Brigid's feast day is February1, which is otherwise known as Candlemas. Any research done on Imbolc or Candlemas will inevitably tie one to the other; the only chronological difference I could find was that Imbolc was traditionally celebrated on February 2, however, I was left with the impression that this date was not set in stone.
And, if you are looking for yet more proof that Brigid = Bride I give you a Scottish proverb about Imbolc, translated into English.
The serpent will come from the hole
On the brown Day of Bride
Though there should be three feet of snow
On the flat surface of the ground
So her feast celebration was Imbolc, great. I thought you said that Imbolc was about fire and purification. I don't see anything like that mentioned in the poem.
You caught me. This is the massive flaw in my thought process, and the very reason that I plead artistic license. While a reference to smoke is made once in Host of the Air I can find nothing that talks about fire, purification, badgers, or other key elements of the original Imbolc festival. Please pretend that this gape in logic does not exist.
Well that pretty much covers my Applebees notes. I did make a number of other notes that confirmed/justified the connection between Brigid the goddess and Brigid the saint and those will be following soon. And as a random side note, I have been trying to find out if the name O'Driscoll has any mythological significance, but have come up empty handed. At this moment, I'm operating under the assumption that it is a semi-common surname and is of no overall significance.
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