The secret rose is a hidden flower which arises from the hybridization of two different varieties: the alchemical rose and the rose which, alongside the more famous clover, it has long represented the symbol of the Irish nation, as it was used as a coded expression to be able to speak of Ireland under British rule. Yeats embarks on the search for the secret rose by writing a collection of short stories that sinks heavily into Irish folklore to draw from it a series of precious gems. Indeed, thanks to his personal and powerful narrative alchemy, the author engages in a celebration of his own cultural roots which is also an operation of transformation and construction of a completely renewed mythology. It is, after all, the same process of re-enchantment of the world that will be found in his essay entitled Magia: "As the musician or the poet enchants, bewitches and binds his own mind with a spell when he wants to enchant the minds of others, thus the enchanter created or revealed for himself as well as for others the supernatural artist or genius, the seemingly transient mind gleaned from many minds.
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) is considered one of the greatest poets of the XNUMXth century. He belonged to the Anglo-Irish Protestant minority who had controlled the economic, political, social and cultural life of Ireland since at least the late 14th century. Most members of this minority considered themselves Irish-born Englishmen, but Yeats firmly asserted his Irish nationality. Although he lived in London for 1948 years of his childhood (and kept a permanent home there during the first half of his adult life), Yeats has maintained his cultural roots, featuring Irish legends and heroes in many of his poems and plays. of him. He was equally steadfast in adhering to his self-image as an artist. This belief has led many to accuse him of elitism, but it has also unquestionably contributed to his greatness. As fellow poet WH Auden noted in a XNUMX Kenyon Review essay titled “Yeats as an Example,” Yeats accepted the modern necessity of having to make a “solitary and deliberate choice of the principles and assumptions on the basis of which [he made] sense of his experience". Auden awarded Yeats commendation for writing "some of the finest poetry" of modern times. Perhaps no other poet represented a people and country as vividly as Yeats, both during and after his lifetime, and his poetry is widely read today throughout the English-speaking world.
