Preoccupation with the Maternal Body

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Recommended: Symbolism in wb yeats selected poetry

In “Among School Children,” Yeats’ tête-à-tête with a tree provokes probable symbolic parallels. I am intrigued that Yeats addresses the tree directly as the “great-rooted blossomer” (61), and although the poem includes strong references to Greek imagery, Neo-Platonist philosophy, and Italian art, I think that because the poet speaks to the tree, he bestows personification which establishes the tree as the most prominent symbol in the poem. The tree symbolizes a force that is flourishing and unwavering, but for what purpose? What does the tree represent? Critics voice various arguments regarding Yeats’ poetic employment of the tree. While one critic alleges that the tree is symbolic of his Cabalist dabbles or of his varying belief systems, another contends that the tree represents a mystical force. I cannot completely disagree with these general claims because elements of truth are reasonably present; however, I think the assertions are limited, and I would argue that “Among School Children” can be examined further in order to firmly establish that the poem reveals Yeats’ fixation on the maternal body and that the tree, the “great-rooted blossomer” (61), provides solid imagery of a nurturing mother.
Trees and mothers have commonalities that should be considered when exploring “Among School Children” including the ability to provide both shelter and sustenance. A woman caresses and protects her children with her hands, and her hands correlate to the leaves of a tree. Likewise, the leaves of a tree provide refuge from danger, and the foliage also provides protection from sunlight. Additionally, leaves produce oxygen, thus life through the phenomenon of photosynthesis. The protective bole of the tree creates a parallel to...

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...trays the resourceful female by introducing the symbolic, versatile tree.

Works Cited

Atkins, Emily. “Study That Tree”: The Iconic State in Purgatory and Waiting for Godot. The
South Carolina Review. 40.2 (2008): 66-77. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.

Feinberg, Stephen. “Yeats’ among School Children.” The Explicator. 33.6 (1975): 87-89. Web. 2
Dec.2013

Gibbons, Thomas. “W. B. Yeats’s “Among School Children”: A Cabalistic Interpretation of the
‘Great-Rooted Blossomer’” Cauda Pavonis; The Hermetic Text Society Newsletter 5.2
(1986): 8. The University of Western Australia. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.

Ryf, Robert S. “Yeats’s Major Metaphysical Poems” Journal of Modern Literature.4.3
(1975):610-624. JSTOR. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.

Yeats, William Butler. “Among School Children.” Norton Anthology of Poetry. 5th Ed. Margaret
Ferguson, et al. New York: Norton, 2004: 1200-1202. Print.

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