It was covered with writing. Many people thought it was a message from Eleanor Dare to her father, telling him the colonists fled the island after an Indian attack.

VOA: special.2009.08.17

It's a kind of dare demonstrating not just his indifference to the crowd but in fact his scorn for it.

叶芝这种胆量,不仅说明他对大众的漠然,其实还是对它的蔑视。

耶鲁公开课 - 现代诗歌课程节选