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| Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco artist interpretation of The Coat |
I made my song a coat
covered with embroideries
Out of old mythologies
From heel to throat; but the fools caught it,
Wore it in the world's eyes
As though they'd wrought it.
Song, let them take it,
For there's more enterprise
In walking naked.
Every poem has layers and layers of meaning.
The reader is the one who
Takes it and decides on the writer's intent.
What does The Coat say to you? What is its interpretation?
W. B. Yeats was fortunate to be born to some degree of wealth from his mother, and world of art, music, and poetry from his father John Butler Yeats. Surrounded by such AND not having to worry about supporting himself, W.B. Yeats had freedom to develop his poetry.
His poetry reflects and captures the times and changes of Ireland.
His poetry reflects and captures the times and changes of Ireland.
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| Fairies |
When I am using Chrome there are several blogs I cannot comment on, I just learned this is one. But now I have switched to Foxfire and will remember next time.
ReplyDeleteNot being a deep thinker, I thought of showmanship with the coat. Elvis came to mind (LOL) BUT: Poems are for Sissies, I once thought, Until Mrs Grill, I had read naught! But she in her teaching way, 'learned' me that poets had much to say. (LOL)
Mrs. Grill of the 7th grade in a mountain school did instill in me a love for poetry. The poem says to me, someone opened me up to know my innermost thoughts. ??
This one is a thinker, methinks I am too old for hard questions. LOL
Love it, from cnetral Flroida,
Sherry & jack
Oh, Jack. I bet you get asked many hard questions.
DeleteI was not familiar with that poem.
ReplyDeleteYeats has so many poems that I love. this one struck a different note for me.
DeleteInteresting. Alas, I don't have the patience to parse poems, so I'll just say it sounded nice.
ReplyDeleteIt has a great smoothness about it.
DeleteHe was so gifted with his poetry.
ReplyDeleteHe was. His gravestone says: Cast a cold eye, on life, on death, horseman pass by.
DeleteHe was one lucky duck!
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts on this poem are that Yeats is expressing frustration that his words get used by others as it they wrote them. There is nothing he could do about that. So, being "stripped", he basically says "oh, well".
ReplyDeleteI like Yeats. He plays with words, uses metaphors. this poem is one big metaphor.
At least, those are my thoughts. What could be yours?
He looks like such a sensitive soul.
ReplyDeleteHe must have been.
DeleteHe looks very much like my brother Jack that I lost long ago. Poetry is like art. It speaks to each of us in a different tongue that I often don't understand. Think I needed a person similar to jack69's Mrs. Grill in my life.
ReplyDeleteWe all need someone like Mrs. Grill. She must have been a great teacher.
DeleteI love that poetry (and art more generally) are entirely subjective.
ReplyDeleteI read it that others had commandeered his words/his creation for their own. And he let them, deciding to walk 'naked' set him apart.
That is what I think, also.
DeleteI believe in one of the many million times he was asked about American Pie's meaning, Don McLean said something to the effect that he preferred to let each listener find their own meaning. To me, the poem says much the same thing. No matter who wears the coat, a different heart is contained within.
ReplyDeletethat's very intuitive.
DeleteSure lucked out indeed
ReplyDeleteHaving such well to do parents freed him to use his talents to create such meaningful poetry.
ReplyDeleteSusan:
ReplyDeleteI really like the comments about this post.
Every person sees not (only) with their eyes, but with their hearts.
Poetry has that effect, and many times, it brings calm to the soul as we're taught to see things we'd otherwise overlook in life.
Nicely presented.
Poetry does indeed bring calm to my soul.
DeleteThe value of letting go is what I get out of this poem. Let it go, move on because it is so true that there's indeed more enterprise in walking naked.
ReplyDeleteI love this.
DeleteThey may get our coat, but they can't get us. No one gets us but us.
ReplyDeleteA great response.
DeleteI'm not good at interpretations. I take this as Yeats lamenting the theft of his ideas, but not dwelling on it, because there are more where that came from.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I see a reference to Yeats, I think of a "rough beast slouching towards Bethlehem." That's what stuck with me, since high school. I'm not even sure we studied Yeats. I might have just turned the text randomly to "The Second Coming." It's kind of depressing.
He has a sense of darkness in some poems, true.
DeleteMost poetry says nothing at all to me, including this. I just don't seem to be able to find any meaning in poems. I'm fine with rhyming jokes and limericks that make me laugh.
ReplyDeleteWhy we find or don't find something in a poem is the way we approach the man who wrote it.
DeleteWe just covered poetry. It's really hard for the grades I teach but I was really proud how they worked through it! I think all grades should be exposed to it. We didn't get to Yeats. Lucky him to be able to cultivate his passion without financial worry. :)
ReplyDeleteI bet your students gained a lot from having you as their teacher.
DeleteYeats might be difficult. Being Irish, his poetry reflect that difficult time in Irish history.
He was very fortunate.
ReplyDeleteI believe everyone takes out meaning according to his own perspective
ReplyDeleteto me the coat presents "perspective" of writer
He is ready to give away or to loose his certain way of thinking
he wants to be free thinker without patterns and prejudices so he used the word "naked" here