Sailing to Byzantium
By William Butler Yeats
I
That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
---Those dying generations---at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unaging intellect.
II
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
III
O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.
IV
Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.
This poem, first published by Yeats in 1928 in his collection The Tower, details the tension between life and art and that between the material and the spiritual. Yeats wrote that he chose to symbolize "the search for the spiritual life" as a journey to the ancient city of Byzantium because it "was the centre of European civilization and the source of its spiritual philosophy." What is Yeats trying to say about his own mortality through his journey to Byzantium? How does he accomplish this? What are some poetic devices that Yeats utilizes to convey his message?
Responses are due January 22.
11 comments:
first off, i would like to say that you suck gary because this is really hard, but i am going to try my best.
this poem says that the current life we are living is only a small blimp on the fabric of time because we are all dying and we should less concerned with worldly things and how in old age, the flesh is nothing unless you have faith because it vitalizes you. because in the twilight of your life, death faces you at every corner and instead of being afraid, you should rejoice because with faith, you know that there is a better afterlife waiting for you. i believe that yeats is trying to say exactly this in respect to his own mortality. he also believes that once he is dead, his human body no longer matters because his spirit/soul will take the form of an angel or some kind of spiritual icon/being to sing of the past, present, and future. he accomplishes this by saying things such as "dying generations" and the images of "an aged man" whose "soul clap its hands and sing...for every tatter in its mortal dress." otherwise that as he ages, his spirit becomes more enthralled with every wear and tear on his body because that means he is closer to an afterlife.
one poetic device Yeats uses is couplet at the end of the first stanza. "...all neglect/monuments of unaging intellect."
Yeats says a lot concerning his personal morality when he details his journey to Byzantium; Particularly in his description of the pain and agony associated with aging and old age in general. He plainly states that it is a spiritual task to stay alive when one is pained with such agony even when one is "fastened to a dying animal." The "animal" that Yeats refers to is the body crippling with age. Yeats hopes that leaving his current land for Byzantium, which, to him, represents new life and existence outside of the human realm, will set him free of his Earthly and bodily responsibilities and burdens. Yeats even goes so far as to compare the spiritual existence that he will experience in Byzantium to a work of art, because he could exist in "the artifice of eternity."
Yeats' opening line: "That is no country for old men" refers to the natural world that man inhabits. He believes that people who exist only in the natural world are missing out on much that life, and even afterlife, has to offer. From a spiritual standpoint, one may infer that Yeats is a very spiritual man. However, spirituality, in this case, does not directly correlate with religion. Although Yeats does pay homage to Christian ideals and symbols in his many references to God (i.e. "God's holy fire" and "holy fire") he glorifies many other ideals such as the importance and beauty of nature, which possesses traces of deism or other more liberal religions.
In terms of poetic devices that we have learned, Yeats uses simile as a way to describe his ideal world of Byzantium further. ("As in the gold mosaic of a wall"). Stylistically, Yeats uses four, eight line stanzas which are written in iambic pentameter. (ABABABCC).
I'll be honest, I was at first confused - your explanation of the meaning of Byzantium help a lot in understanding of the poem. It is interesting that he chose Byzantium as the center for "spiritual life" in Europe and not Rome. (Perhaps this is due to the split of England from the Catholic faith, was Yeats Eastern Orthodox?)
I got the impression that Yeats was suffering a feeling of age, considering himself a "paltry thing," and that by travelling to Byzantium, which he imagines full of life and "unaging intellect," he could reenergize himself. On the other hand, perhaps he hoped to achieve eternity in Byzantium with his knowledge and fame, implied by the fact that he hopes "Grecian goldsmiths" will make him a "form" - a statue. This speaks of the theme of immortality in the memory of others, a common theme in literature. In a way, of course, Keats was successful - his poems have earned him everlasting life.
Keats uses an interesting rhyming pattern of ABABABCC - six alternatingly rhyming lines, capped with a heroic couplet.
I have to go right now, so I'll be back after school with some more poetic devices
Yeats stresses how very superficial and short the time spent on this life is. "Whatever is begotten, born, and dies." Whatever exists will eventually cease to. I think that the Byzantine is supposed to be a symbol of man's great accomplishments, and before Yeats finishes with his time on Earth, he would like to leave a standing achievement. He is "sailing" to make one. He wants to have left a mark of his being. Once he has completed that task, "God's holy fire" will take him into, " the artifice of eternity." Yeats will then have his deed displayed to all the other people who have also executed a task like his. As everyone else has already pointed out, the rhyming scheme is ABABABCC. When Yeats uses "a tattered coat upon a stick", I think you would call it a synecdoche.
Yeats is obviously an extremely symbolic and deep man. In this poem he uses Byzantium as the destination of his afterlife, and we, as the audience, are able to embark on his vision of mortal life and the journey that our spirit takes after our passing. Through his poem we are able to determine that Yeats acknowledges the circle of life. We are all born, die, and born again once our souls detach from our bodies. Yeats envisions his afterlife as a very glorious process, “such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make of hammered gold" (lines 27-28). Also, Yeats holds much of his fate in the hands of God, which is primarily seen, in the third paragraph.
Some literary devices used in this poem alliteration: “Fish, flesh, or fowl" (line 5). He also uses personification by giving a human soul human abilities, “Soul clap its hands and sing" (line 11).
Yeats is obviously an extremely symbolic and deep man. In this poem he uses Byzantium as the destination of his afterlife, and we, as the audience, are able to embark on his vision of mortal life and the journey that our spirit takes after our passing. Through his poem we are able to determine that Yeats acknowledges the circle of life. We are all born, die, and born again once our souls detach from our bodies. Yeats envisions his afterlife as a very glorious process, “such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make of hammered gold" (lines 27-28). Also, Yeats holds much of his fate in the hands of God, which is primarily seen, in the third paragraph.
Some literary devices used in this poem alliteration: “Fish, flesh, or fowl" (line 5). He also uses personification by giving a human soul human abilities, “Soul clap its hands and sing" (line 11).
Yeats comes straight to the point in his first line:
"That is no country for old men." He explains that in the mortal world, age is a burden, while youth is not nearly as unpleasant: "The young In one another's arms..." He emphsizes the fleeting nature of a mortal life, and the staid permanence of a spiritual one: "Whatever is begotten, born, and dies...An aged man is but a paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick, unless...Once out of nature I shall never take my bodily form from any natural thing, but such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make of hammered gold and gold enamelling..." These lines use IMAGERY and SIMILE to depict the vast difference between a mundane mortal life and a splendorous spiritual existence. It is easy to see that Yeats desires the brilliance of "hammered gold" over his own "tattered" existence.
It is importance to note that Yeats was well past his middle years when he wrote this poem (I believe he was in his 60s) and that he was most likely feeling the effects of age.
-Diana Heriford
While Yeats is most certainly alluding to the existance of a spiritual, if not heavenly, afterlife, he is also emphasizing mortality. While the material items remain caught in time, immortalized, the men, both old and young, fish, birds, and all other living creatures are constantly progressing and travelling. While the course of life is different for every mortal being, Yeats's poem points out that no matter what, the destination, Byzantium (a.k.a. death followed shortly by an afterlife), will be the same for all living creatures - whether Byzantium is an unending expanse of emptiness and darkness or the heaven that so many expect is just as irrelevant as all the material objects that mortal beings are consumed with throughout their journey to Byzantium.
The two instances when Yeats brings up the "Monuments," which I took to mean material substances, really pointed this out to me. He comments on the "unaging intellect" they possess and then later refers to man's studying of them - emphasizing both the immortality of matter as well as the obsession man harbors for such matter.
Regardless of Keats's beliefs on the afterlife, I think his use of "the holy city of Byzantium" as a metaphore for the end of life, effectively comments on materialism as well as the inevitable approach of the same fate for all mortal beings.
P.S. i second emily's displeased attitude with the likes of mr kafer. this was unnecessarily difficult...
The struggle between the poet and his mortality is detailed throughout the poem. Yeats notes the universal conflict that a living being comes into with its own mortality in the first stanza: "Whatever is begotten, born, and dies." He then figuratively describes his mortality as a dress, which accumulates "tatters" as he ages. Yeats then suggests that one can overcome mortality by existing spiritually within a nonliving piece of artwork, such as one that "Grecian goldsmiths make... to keep a drowsy Emperor awake." Yeats is implying that though an old emperor will inevitably meet death, he can be immortalized within a golden work of art. Through his figurative language, Yates attempts to convey to the reader that a spiritual existence is superior to a physically living being.
Yeats is attempting to convey his apprehension about aging and mortality. He acknowledges that all men age through and by nature in "Those dying generations" and "mackerel-crowded seas." Nature is apart of mortality and Yeats's message seems to indicate that he believes nature is an immenient part of finding a person's soul before death. Yeats uses allegory as he mentions the "holy city of Byzantium" and brillant talent of the ancient "Grecian goldsmiths."
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