YEATS'S VISION PAPERS. Volume 1

Transcription

1 YEATS'S VISION PAPERS Volume 1

2 YEATS'S VISION PAPERS General Editor: George Mills Harper, R. O. Lawton Distinguished Professor at Florida State University, and General Editor (with Richard J. Finneran) of The Collected Edition of the Works ofw. B. Yeats Mary Jane Harper, Editorial; Assistant Volume 1 The Automatic Script: 5 November June 1918 Edited by Steve L. Adams, Barbara J. Frieling and Sandra L. Sprayberry Volume 2 The Automatic Script: 25 June March 1920 Edited by Steve L. Adams, Barbara J. Frieling and Sandra L. Sprayberry Volume 3 Sleep and Dream Notebooks, Vision Notebooks 1 and 2, Card File Edited by Robert Anthony Martinich and Margaret Mills Harper Series Standing Order If you would like to receive future titles in this series as they are published, you can make use of our standing order facility. To place a standing order please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address and the name of the series. Please state with which title you wish to begin your standing order. (If you live outside the United Kingdom we may not have the rights for your area, in which case we will forward your order to the publisher concerned.) Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basiug3toke, Hampshire, RG2l 2XS, England.

3 George Yeats, AS 5 November 1917

4 Yeats's Vision Papers General Editor George Mills Harper Assisted by Mary Jane Harper Volume 1 The Automatic Script: 5 November June 1918 Edited by Steve L. Adams, Barbara J. Frieling and Sandra L. Sprayberry M MACMILLAN

5 Michael Yeats 1992 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition Editorial matter Steve L. Adams, Barbara J. Frieling and Sandra L. Sprayberry 1992 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 33-4 Alfred Place, London WClE 7DP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1992 Published by MACMILLAN ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world Typeset by Footnote Graphics, Warminster, Wiltshire British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Yeats, W. B. (William Butler) Yeats's Vision papers. Vol. 1, The Automatic script, 5 November June Literature. Theories I. Title II. Adams, Steve L. III. Frieling, Barbara J. IIIl. Sprayberry, Sandra L. 801 ISBN (vol. 1) 3-volume set ISBN ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI /

6 Contents Frontispiece: AS 5 November 1917 List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations and Signs Preface Acknowledgements vi vii xi xiii Introduction by George Mills Harper 1 One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Notes Bibliography Index 5 November to 12 November November to 7 December December 1917 to 30 January January to 5 March March to 2 April April to 26 May June to 18 June v

7 List of Illustrations AS5Nov17 1 AS5Nov17 2 AS 21 Dec 17 3 AS 21 Dec 17 4 AS 5 Jan 18 5 AS9Jan 18 6 AS 14 Jan 18 7 AS4Mar18 8 AS 16 May 18 frontispiece vi

8 List of Abbreviations and Signs Books, Notebooks, MSS, and Organizations Au CLI CVA DCYL DMR EI EPS Ex GO KT L LWBY Mem MGNB MM Myth MYV Yeats, Autobiographies (London: Macmillan, 1955). The Collected Letters ofw. B. Yeats , vol. I, ed. John Kelly and Eric Domville (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986). A Critical Edition of Yeats's "A Vision" (1925), ed. George Mills Harper and Walter Kelly Hood (London: Macmillan, 1978). Edward O'Shea, A Descriptive Catalog ofw. B. Yeats's Library (New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1985). "The Discoveries of Michael Robartes". Yeats, Essays and Introductions (London: Macmillan, 1961). Nandor Fodor, An Encyclopaedia of Psychical Science (Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, 1974). Yeats, Explorations, sel. Mrs W. B. Yeats (London: Macmillan, 1962; New York: Macmillan, 1963). The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. H. P. Blavatsky, The Key to Theosophy (London: Theosophical Publishing House, n.d.). First published The Letters of w. B. Yeats, ed. Allan Wade (London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1954; New York: Macmillan, 1955). Letters to W. B. Yeats, ed. Richard J. Finneran, George Mills Harper and William M. Murphy (London: Macmillan; New York: Columbia University Press, 1977). Memoirs, ed. Denis Donoghue (London: Macmillan, 1972; New York: Macmillan, 1973). Unpublished notebook containing many entries about Maud Gonne and numerous records of seances and other spiritualistic experiments. Richard Ellmann, Yeats: The Man and the Masks (New York: W. W. Norton, 1978). Yeats, Mythologies (London and New York: Macmillan, 1959). George Mills Harper, The Making of Yeats's "A Vision": A Study of the Automatic Script, 2 vols (London: Macmillan, 1987). vii

9 viii NB NCP OJE P PASL SDNB SPR UP 1 UP2 VA VB VBWI VNBI VNB2 VP VPl YGD YH YO List of Abbreviations and Signs Nine Notebooks in Sleep and Dream Notebooks. A. Norman Jeffares, A New Commentary on the Poems ofw. B. Yeats (London: Macmillan, 1984). Yeats, The Only Jealousy of Emer (1919). W. B. Yeats: The Poems, ed. R. J. Finneran (New York and London: Macmillan, 1983, rev. 1989). Yeats, Per Arnica Silentia Lunae (London and New York: Macmillan, 1918). Sleep and Dream Notebooks. Society for Psychical Research. Uncollected Prose by W. B. Yeats, vol. 1, ed. John P. Frayne (London: Macmillan; New York: Columbia University Press, 1970). Uncollected Prose by W. B. Yeats, vol. 2, ed. John P. Frayne and Colton Johnson (London: Macmillan, 1975; New York: Columbia University Press, 1976). Yeats, A Vision (London: T. Werner Laurie, 1925). Yeats, A Vision (London: Macmillan, 1962). Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland Collected and Arranged by Lady Gregory: with two Essays and Notes by W. B. Yeats (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1970). Vision Notebook 1. Vision Notebook 2. The Variorum Edition of the Poems ofw. B. Yeats, ed. Peter AlIt and Russell K. Alspach (New York: Macmillan, 1957). The Variorum Edition of the Plays ofw. B. Yeats, ed. Russell K. Alspach (London and New York: Macmillan, 1966). George Mills Harper, Yeats's Golden Dawn (London: Macmillan, 1974). --, W. B. Yeats and W. T. Horton: The Record of an Occult Friendship (London: Macmillan, 1980). Yeats and the Occult, ed. George Mills Harper (Toronto: Macmillan 1975). Selected Terms Abbreviated in the Automatic Writing A AF AM AS BW Answer Automatic Faculty Anima Mundi Automatic Script Backward Writing

10 List of Abbreviations and Signs ix CF LF MW NRA NRQ P PAM Q Faculties CG EG EP PF Card File Lightning Flash Mirror Writing No Recorded Answer No Recorded Question Phase of the Moon Personal Anima Mundi Question Creative Genius (Creative Mind in VA) Evil Genius Evil Persona Persona of Fate (Body of Fate in VA) Moments of Crisis BV Beatific Vision CM Critical Moment 1M Initiatory Moment OM [unexplained] Principles CB PB PB SB Celestial Body Passionate Body Physical Body (changed to Husk in VA) Spirit Body Signs of the Zodiac y Aries f'l Libra '1:5 Taurus m. Scorpio n: Gemini I Sagittarius Cancer ;C Capricorn Q Leo,...,., Aquarius 1tP Virgo X Pisces Astrological Planets and their Symbols o Sun 2j. Jupiter» Moon "h Saturn ~ Mercury IiI Uranus (Herschel) 2 Venus W Neptune d Mars ~ Pluto

11 x List of Abbreviations and Signs o Conjunction r:? Opposition Four Elements t::, Fire -8 Air S;Z Earth \lwater

12 Preface We have tried to reproduce the main features of the AS, NBs, and CF as we found them. In order to do so, we have eschewed the use of sic, allowing eccentric spelling, capitalization and occasional grammatical lapses to stand. However, because Yeats's handwriting is difficult to read, we cannot always be sure of the spelling, especially at the ends of words. Also, he is not consistent, occasionally spelling a word two ways in one sentence. Since the same inconsistency is characteristic of his use o capitalsjwe have tried to determine what he intended but have often been forced to make arbitrary decisions. Although George's spelling is generally excellent, her capitalization is even more difficult to determine than Yeats's, especially in the first few months when she dramatized the automatism of her responses by running the words together from one side of the page to the other. Completely inconsistent in the capitalization of the first word in the line, she had difficulty making her intention clear in the middle of lines. But after she stopped running the words together (18 June 1919), she was generally consistent and her practice standard in both spelling and capitalization. Punctuation is a more difficult problem. Yeats used very few internal marks in his questions, and he was completely unpredictable with terminal marks, choosing the full stop (period) as often as the question mark and often neither. George, in contrast, was quite consistent,.rarely using any marks until she abandoned the format of automatism, after which her usage was fairly standard. Frequently, especially in long or complex answers, she indicated breaks of thought by leaving longer spaces between words. We have marked these spaces by dashes, and have occasionally inserted others for the sake of clarity. Although she generally left spaces after "yes" and "no" at the beginning of answers, we have inserted dashes in this position only when they seemed necessary for clarity. We have also avoided the dashes or longer lines with which she frequently but inconsistently ended her responses. And we have followed George's practice in the early Script - and Yeats's throughout - of omitting apostrophes and full stops after abbreviations. For the text itself we have consistently avoided quoting careless duplications and materials intentionally rejected by either George or Yeats with the exception of several passages crossed out but not obliterated which are necessary to an understanding of the Script at this point. Among the passages we have preserved are pages or series of questions which have been marked through and labelled "wrong". We xi

13 xii Preface have also identified in the notes occasional rejected phrases or entire questions which may have a special interest or bearing on the subject being discussed. All materials not a direct part of the dialogue have been placed in our explanatory notes. Most of these are Yeats's comments or summaries of exciting or significant details from the dialogue of the day. In order to simplify our own notes and commentaries we have adopted the following conventions. 1. We have included in the front of each volume a "List of Abbreviations and Signs" including frequently cited books, notebooks, etc; selected terms used in the Script; signs of the Zodiac; and signs of the planets and the Four Elements. 2. We have capitalized Script for the Yeatses' automatic writing; Phase for a particular phase as it was used in A Vision; and such terms as Medium and Interpreter for George, Control and Guide for her Communicators, Q and A for particular Questions and Answers, Card for a particular Card in the CF, and Cycle for a particular Cycle (usually related to Signs of the Zodiac). 3. We have abbreviated without full stops a large number of commonly used words such as Mr, Mrs, Dr, TS, MS, etc, eg, ie, cf, esp (in notes), nd, n, ch, unpub, Itr, dtd, days of the week, and months of the year. Although we have made many cross-references to ideas, events, passages, entries and notes, we have avoided the cumbersome effect of an attempt to be comprehensive. Nevertheless, the notes, including cross-references and the identification of sources (especially in CF), will enable the careful reader to follow the development of the System, a portion of which is projected in V A and many poems, plays, essays, etc. Finally, we have avoided cluttering the text by documenting ideas and even phraseology from our own previously published words - eg, YH, YO, YGD, MYVand selected articles.

14 Acknowledgements Although some portions of the Vision Papers were transcribed and cited in George Mills Harper's The Making of Yeats's "A Vision", the great body of materials has remained unexamined and unpublished. Needless to say, therefore, the editorial task represented in the three volumes of this edition would have been impossible without the assistance and unfailing generosity of Anne B. Yeats, Senator Michael B. Yeats and his entire family. We are indebted to Senator Yeats and John Kelly, General Editor of the forthcoming collection of Yeats's letters by Oxford University Press, for permission to quote again brief passages from unpublished letters already cited in MYV; and we appreciate the approval of Roy Foster and Ann Saddlemyer, official biographers of W. B. and George Yeats. Of the many other people who have assisted us with transcriptions, identifications and scholarly advice we can name only a few: David R. Clark, Richard J. Finneran, Mary FitzGerald, Warwick Gould, Phillip R. Marcus, William M. Murphy and Kathleen Raine. We are, of course, indebted to many other scholars, without whose research such a complex edition as this would have been poorer if not impossible. And we have profited immeasurably from the experience and advice of numerous graduate students who have studied these and related papers in Professor Harper's seminars at Florida State University over a period of several years. For permission to quote from Yeats's published works we are grateful to Senator Yeats, A. P. Watt Ltd, Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc. (New York), the Macmillan Press Ltd (London) and Macmillan of Canada. Barbara J. Frieling and Sandra L. Sprayberry have been assisted by research grants from Florida State University, and Margaret Mills Harper has received Summer Fellowships and one quarter research leave from Ohio State University at Marion. Professor Harper has been supported for travel, research and partial subsidy of this edition by Florida State University. He is also indebted to the National Humanities Center for a Fellowship at a critical time in the beginning of this study. The entire project has been immeasurably facilitated by a generous gift from Hayes Micro Computer Products Inc. (Atlanta) of five Smartxiii

15 xiv Acknowledgements modems 2400 and accompanying software which enabled us at our separate locations to exchange ideas and transmit materials with speed and ease. Finally, we are most grateful to Thomas J. Frieling for many hours of devotion to detail on a comprehensive index. SLA, BJF, MMH, RAM, SLS GMH