Sailing to Byzantium The poem, "Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats, is an in depth look at the journeys of one man seeking to escape the idle and uneducated society of Europe. Yeats pursues a society of which sensual and artistic domains reign. The goal of the author is to become a part of Byzantine civilization and to be forever immortalized in the artwork presented in gold on the walls of the Byzantine churches. Immersion into a different culture and lifestyle is the only way to truly experience and fully understand the ways of this other culture. By surrounding oneself in an unknown environment, one develops great character and becomes less ignorant to differences in others. People tend to become quite unenlightened when all time is spent in the culture of which one is born. Many need to journey beyond their safe haven and experience the life which others live. To walk in another man's shoes is to truly know what that man is feeling. In the first stanza the author explains that the land of which he speaks is not one for old folks. There is many young people lolling about enjoying life. The fish of the sea, the mammals of the land, and the birds of the air acclaim all the summer long. Summer here tends to mean all year. Summer is a very passive time of year. All God's creatures are described as lazy and uninterested in the knowledge there is to be sought after. "Caught in that sensual music all neglect monuments of unaging intellect." These verses indicate to the reader how enjoyable life must be in this far away land. Everyone and everything escapes reality in the arousing music of desire. Love is a prominent portrait portrayed in this first stanza. The second stanza examines how wonderful it ... ... middle of paper ... ...s has heard of a gold and silver tree that holds artificial birds to entertain the Emperor. The author wishes to become artwork so generations to come will see his documentation. Some may wish their days away and never venture out and at least attempt to achieve their hopes and dreams. Dreams can become reality when a little effort is employed. However, dreams will never be achieved if one only dreams. Yeats journeys to a far away city in order to escape the maddening chaos of the society in which his upbringing took place. He risks all he has in order to accomplish his goals. To pack up all one's belongings and travel to an unknown land take great courage and should be commended. Experience and knowledge come hand in hand when it comes to developing one's character. More people need to leave their everyday lives and encounter another culture and lifestyle.
The speaker also manipulates time to bring out his or her message. Lines 3, 8, 11, 21, 34, and 36 all contain some order of either “spring summer autumn winter” (3), as in lines 11 and 34, or “sun moon stars rain” (8), as in lines 11, 21, and 36. As the order of these seasons changes, it indicates the passage of time. This manipulation of time draws attention away from these lines and towards the lines with deeper meaning hidden within. However, there is another form of time: the progression of life. The speaker comments on the growth of children in terms of their maturity levels and how as they get older, children tend to forget their childish whims and fancies and move on. He or she says that they “guessed (but only a few / and down they forgot as up they grew” (9-10). He or she then goes on to say that “no one loved [anyone] more by more” (12), hinting at a relationship in development, foreshadowing a possible marriage.
...ld of art and literature. Since the "marriage", the parent generation, is already dead or dying, therefore every new creation is now also afflicted with disease and condemned to death. Consequently this means the end of hope for a renewal of society, but since the stanza begins with the word "how", this is also a voice of accusation and a demand for change.
The Byzantium Civilization started cause of overcrowding in the eight century B.C. that led Greek city-states to send out colonies throughout the Mediterranean basin. In the year of 667 B.C.; Byzas, from the Greek city of Megra, founded Byzantium Civilization at the mouth of the Black Sea. Alexander the Great dominated Byzantium as he built an empire around it stretching from Greece to India. Byzantium was the Christianized eastern part of the Roman Empire. Constantine the Great was a vital figure in the early stages of this civilization. He established toleration for Christianity throughout the Roman Empire and legally transferred his capital from Rome to Constantinople, which is the site of the Greek City of Byzantium. Roman law and political institutions ruled the people there and they spoke Latin and Greek languages. Merchants at this city were able to grow rich cause of its strategic location between the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Constantine liked to import Greek-Roman art from throughout the empire.
...iance, readers are capable of seeing how citizens in the world today try to be independent of others and sustain their personal beliefs and philosophy. Individuals have to put an end to conformity and trying to be a duplication of everyone else because they will never achieve success if they never decide for themselves. A person must not rely on the judgment and minds of others and learn to think for him or herself since depending on others only exhibits a person’s inferiority to larger institutions. People must stop using travel as an excuse to evade personal problems because if they do not have a direct confrontation with the dilemma, trying to escape will only lengthen it. People in today’s society must appreciate this work so they will approve of their individuality and be stronger in fighting against everyone else that disagrees with their personal philosophy.
The above concept of Yeats no doubt is idealized by him from mixing up the two doctrines: Christian and Hinduism. In fact there is no incarnation in Christian doctrine of man. When a man dies he will go for spiritual journey to heaven (of course after cleansing in purgatory) as suggested by the title Sailing to Byzantium. But W. B. Yeats is so impressed and influenced by Hinduism and may be his love for earthly life so he wants to be incarnated.
The speaker continues to argue that time is not in favor of his mistress’s nervousness or his age. For instance, he says, “But at my back I always hear time’s winged chariot hurrying near” (lines 21 and 22). In other words, he is saying his time is running out quickly. There can be many reasons why his time is running short, but according to the poem there is one reason he could be in a rush to make love with his mistress. The speaker says, “And yonder all before us lie deserts of vast eternity” (lines 23 and 24). “Deserts of vast eternity” (line 24) expresses his concern of not being able to have children, which would make him sterile. As men age, their sperm count becomes less and less, which makes conceiving a child nearly impossible.
Keats presents his feelings on how he no longer wishes for impossible goals, and how it is much more preferable to enjoy life as much as possible. It is of no use longing for things we cannot have, and so we must learn to live with the myriad of things we already have, of these one in particular appeals to Keats: the warmth of human companionship and the passion of love.
I will begin this essay with a brief history of the life of William Butler Yeats in order to secure an understanding of the social and historical context from which he created his works. I will then go on to explain the broad development of Yeats's poetic form, style and technique showing in particular how his works can be separated into two separate periods providing a brief account of the influences in each period on his themes, context and subtexts. I will then discuss these points while, commenting on a small group of poems' in particular I will provide a detailed analysis drawing appropriate generalizations
Stanzas one and two of the poem are full of imagery. The first stanza sets the scene for the poem “in a kingdom by the sea” (Poe 609) which makes you feel as if the story is going to have a “romantic” (Overview) feel to it. Then Annabel Lee comes into the story with “no other thought than to love and be loved by me” (Poe 609); This sentence is full of imagery in the sense that it makes you feel the immense capacity of love Annabel Lee had for the speaker if that was her only thought. In the second stanza the imagery takes a turn that shifts from loving and inviting to pain; The love between Annabel and the speaker was so strong that
...a silence deep and white” (Line,4) they are talking about how the white snow is beautiful and, how it looks like to me this is a love of nature to some maybe not.Last one is Intuition over fact in this quote “Father,who makes the snow?” (Line,22) says his daughter, “And told of the good All father” (Line,23) and lastly “Who cares for us here below” (Line,24) he is talking about and all father which i believe he is talking about god,and this is a great characteristic for this poem.
You don’t need to travel the world, as long as you are fine with your stake in life. If you don’t drop everything to achieve your personal legend you can live a safe life. A life where you don’t need to wonder where your next meal comes from. A solid fulfilled
In Yeats’ Byzantium, there is the symbol of the boat, and or sailing. This poem talks about aging. The opening line, “That is no country for old men” (Pg. 1147 Line 1) even states that the speaker, an old man, is leaving the country because he is too old now. In lines 15-16, the speaker states, “And therefore I have sailed the seas and come to the holy city of Byzantium.” This basically means that the speaker has lived, and now he is old, and he is going to die, and go to a better place. Although we think that Yeats is talking about Heaven, but he believed in reincarnation, so the speaker would be reincarnated into something better.
The third stanza uses hyperboles to describe the depths of love between the two people and the line “He was my North, my South, my East and West” leads the reader to believe that the person who died set a course and now the speaker does not know what direction to take. The deceased was the speaker’s whole world. The disappointment the speaker is experiencing is conveyed when he says, “I thought that love would last fo...
“Sailing to Byzantium”, published in 1928, “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death”, published in 1919, and “The Second Coming”, published in 1920, are all some of the most highly regarded works of William Butler Yeats. Although each poem seemingly contains its own personal ideas and focus on particular topics, one common theme is found throughout all three: death. In “Sailing to Byzantium” Yeats discusses the matter of growing old and attempting to find a way to live eternally after death has taken its toll, while in “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” he creates an internal dialogue of an Irish airman as he feels he is about to take his final flight into death, and lastly in “The Second Coming” he creates an allegory for post-war Ireland by alluding to the Apocalypse. Each of these poems is popular not only due to the incredible manner in which they were written, but rather, due to the voice in which Yeats discusses each of the poem’s respective subjects. Through his modernist style, yet traditional form, William Butler Yeats wrote “Sailing to Byzantium”, “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death”, and “The Second Coming” as an attempt to answering the difficult questions that surround death in a way which resonated so strongly onto the audience that continues its legacy to this day.
Stanza three explains what life was like at the farm he lived on, as the previous stanzas have. Line twenty describes the landscape and how beautiful it is. It describes it as Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air,” (20). Lines twenty one through twenty three use more imagery to describe the landscape. They use words such as “lovely and watery” (21) to show how pleasant it was to gaze upon the land. The word “And” is also repeated in the beginning of each of these lines which creates suspense. They also show repetition by repeating words such as “green” and it brings up the starry night again. Line twenty four talks about owls and how they are starting to come out. The day is starting to end and there is still beauty in everything. Now night has begun and all the things that made the day happy and carefree are starting to disappear. Lines twenty five through twenty seven use imagery to show that the moon is appearing and the horses and everything else is disappearing into the night. This begins to show that the youth the speaker is experiencing is starting to