A Vision: An Explanation of Life Founded upon the Writings of Giraldus and upon Certain Doctrines Attributed to Kusta Ben Luka

Kusta ben Luka writes a letter to Abd Al-Rabban. In it, he writes a poem that touches on the nature of knowledge and passion and the influence of the supernatural. The poem’s narrative pivots around the mysterious gift bestowed upon the narrator—a woman with a supernatural voice, able to utter truths that transcend time and reality. This voice draws “a quality of wisdom” from her very essence (102). The recurring motifs of change, symbolized by the “storm-tossed banner” of a woman’s beauty, and enduring wisdom, symbolized by the “armed man,” intertwine throughout the poem (102). As the narrator reveals, “A woman’s beauty is a storm-tossed banner; / Under it wisdom stands” (102). Yeats emphasizes the depth of human connection and the layers of meaning beneath the surface, suggesting that true comprehension goes beyond superficial beauty to recognize the wisdom underneath.

Drawing inspiration from geometric metaphors like the “gyre” (often visualized as a cone), Yeats presents a conceptual framework that encapsulates the eternal oscillation between expansion and contraction in life and consciousness. Influenced by sources ranging from Flaubert to Swedenborg to ancient philosophers, the chapter elucidates the dynamic relationship between fate, destiny, and human experience.