Poems of W.B. Yeats: The Tower Study Guide

Glossary of Terms

anodyne

a medicine that relieves pain

bauble

ornament

Byzantium

an ancient Greek city at the heart of the Byzantine Empire

catalpa

trees with clusters of white flowers

chryselephantine

statues with wooden bases and ivory and gold elements

clangour

noise

courtesans

ladies and gentlemen making up a royal court

crevice

crack

Ephesian

one who sleeps for centuries

exalt

to extol

ignominy

personal humiliation

incendiary

one who deliberately inflames violence

inclemency

storms

lad

boy

mackerel

a type of fish

Magnus Annus

Latin for "great year"

mahogany

a type of dark wood

mar

dirty, besmirch

modernism

a movement in 20th-century literature and arts which emphasized fragmentation, alienation, and recognition of art as art rather than reality

muscatel

a sweet wine

paltry

worthless

pastoral

idyllic, rustic

pate

top of the head (so "crack-pated" means mad)

pathos

the central element of tragedy

perturb

greatly disturb, distract

platonic

non-sexual, the idealized form of something

poignant

deeply emotional, touching

resinous

sticky

retinue

company of men, servants

reveries

dreams

Saturnian

happy, peaceful

sedentary

inactive

spinning-jenny

a multi-spool spinning wheel, crucial for mechanizing production of textiles

statuary

a collection of statues

stumpier

shorter (in stature)

swansong

a swan's last call before death, anything's last appearance

tempest

storm

toper

one who drinks alcoholic beverages

tumultuous

non-peaceful

tyrants

despots, those who rule by force