The Delphic Oracle Upon Plotinus
The Delphic Oracle Upon Plotinus - meaning Summary
Vision of Philosophical Afterlife
Yeats presents a brief visionary scene in which the Neoplatonist Plotinus appears tossed by turbulent seas, facing both judgment and distant promise. Classical figures—Plato, Minos, Pythagoras—and mythic images like Rhadamanthus and the Golden Race populate a garden-like afterlife. The poem contrasts intellectual and moral authority with physical limitation: spiritual ascent is suggested but obstructed by "salt blood" and dimmed prospects, implying struggle between transcendence and earthly impediment.
Read Complete AnalysesBehold that great Plotinus swim, Buffeted by such seas; Bland Rhadamanthus beckons him, But the Golden Race looks dim, Salt blood blocks his eyes. Scattered on the level grass Or winding through the grove plato there and Minos pass, There stately Pythagoras And all the choir of Love.
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