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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.
“Sailing to Byzantium,” by the Irish poet W.B. Yeats (1865-1939), reflects on the difficulty of keeping one’s soul alive in a fragile, failing human body. The speaker, an old man, leaves behind the country of the young for a visionary quest to Byzantium, the ancient city that was a major seat of early Christianity.
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- Literary Devices
- Themes
- Historical Context
- About W.B. Yeats
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‘Sailing to Byzantium’ by W.B. Yeatstells the story of a man who is traveling to a new country, Byzantium, a spiritual resort to him. Byzantium was an ancient Greek colony later named Constantinople, which is situated where Istanbul, Turkey, now stands. While the speaker does take an actual journey to Byzantium, the reader can interpret this journe...
The speaker in ‘Sailing to Byzantium’wishes to sail and go to an imaginary world (or country), Byzantium. There the artist, almost impersonal, manages to reflect this vision of a whole people. This country had a culture so integrated as to produce art that could have the impact of a single image. The world that the poet wants to leave to sail to By...
The poem is broken into four stanzas, each containing eight lines. There is a set rhyme scheme throughout the poem of abababcc. Yeats wrote the poem in iambic pentameter, and there is a rhyming couplet at the end of each stanza. Such a rhyming scheme of stanzas is known as the ottava rima. As the poem is in iambic pentameter, it means that there ar...
This poem contains several literary devices. The title of the poem, ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ is a reference to the metaphorical journey of an old man toward the center of classicism. Besides, “Byzantium” is a metonym for the art of ancient Byzantium. Apart from that, the poem begins with a litote. There is an alliteration in the phrase, “Fish, flesh,...
Yeats presents several themes in this poem. First of all ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ presents the theme of spirituality. Here, the poet refers to a different kind of spirituality that does not center on the concept of asceticism. The speaker is more concerned with the study of artworks that elevates the intellectual capacity of the soul. Thereafter, one...
‘Sailing to Byzantium’ by W.B. Yeats was composed probably in 1927, and published in Yeats’ collection of poems titled “The Tower” in 1928. This poem fits in nicely with the literary movement in which it was written, Modernism. Modernists often rebelled against tradition and celebrated self-discovery, which this poem does. It is also interesting to...
William Butler Yeats, a proud Irishman, is known for such works as ‘When You Are Old’ and ‘The Second Coming’. Yeats was strongly influenced by his native country, and much of his poetry is a reflection of that influence. Born on June 13, 1865, at Sandymount near Dublin in Ireland, Yeats published prose called “A Vision” wherein he sought to furnis...
Here is a list of poems that are similar to the themes present in W.B. Yeats’ poem, ‘Sailing to Byzantium’. 1. Youth and Age by Samuel Taylor Coleridge – It’s one of the best-known poems of Coleridge. Here, the poet explains the difference between two stages of human life, youth, and old-age. 2. Beautiful Old Age by H. Lawrence – In this poem, the ...
Learn about the meaning, structure, and themes of Yeats' poem 'Sailing to Byzantium', which depicts an old man's journey to a spiritual and artistic world. Explore the literary devices, historical context, and similar poetry of this classic work.
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Sailing to Byzantium" is a poem by William Butler Yeats, first published in his collection October Blast, in 1927 and then in the 1928 collection The Tower. It comprises four stanzas in ottava rima, each made up of eight lines of iambic pentameter. It uses a journey to Byzantium (Constantinople) as a metaphor for a spiritual journey. Yeats ...
A poem about the speaker's quest for immortality and art in Byzantium, where he hopes to become a golden bird singing of past, present, and future. Learn about the poem's form, theme, symbolism, and comparison with Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale".
A poem by W. B. Yeats about an old man who travels to Byzantium for spiritual enlightenment. Learn about the literary and historical context, the themes of old age, mortality and art, and the analysis of the poem's structure and language.
A poem by the Irish poet W. B. Yeats, who sails to the holy city of Byzantium to escape the decay of old age and seek the artifice of eternity. The poem contrasts the sensual beauty of nature and the spiritual beauty of art, and invokes the sages and singers of Byzantium.
