Tables of the Law and The Adoration of the Magi

The first two tales involve the persona's relationship with a certain Aherne, who has come into possession of a beautiful book by Joachim of Flora, a book deemed so heretical that Pope Alexander IV had all known copies burnt. This one overlooked copy, Aherne now cherishes, apparently influenced by a sect directed by a Michael Robartes. (Both Robartes and Aherne appear in other works of Yeats.) A decade after this introduction, Michael Robartes having suffered some "terrible destiny," part 2 opens with the persona catching sight of a much changed Aherne, convinced that he cannot be saved. After a vision constituting a religious experience, the persona flees and never returns to seek out hi…