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Whatever is begotten, born, and dies. Monuments of unageing intellect. To the holy city of Byzantium. And be the singing-masters of my soul. Into the artifice of eternity. Of what is past, or passing, or to come. Copyright Credit: From THE COLLECTED POEMS OF W.B. YEATS edited by Richard Finneran.
“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.
‘Sailing to Byzantium’ by W.B. Yeats tells 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.
Written in 1926 (when Yeats was 60 or 61), "Sailing to Byzantium" is Yeats' definitive statement about the agony of old age and the imaginative and spiritual work required to remain a vital individual even when the heart is "fastened to a dying animal" (the body).
A summary of “Sailing to Byzantium” in William Butler Yeats's Yeats's Poetry. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Yeats's Poetry and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.
To the holy city of Byzantium. And be the singing-masters of my soul. Into the artifice of eternity. Of what is past, or passing, or to come. This poem is in the public domain. Sailing to Byzantium - That is no country for old men. The young.
To the holy city of Byzantium. And be the singing-masters of my soul. Into the artifice of eternity. Of what is past, or passing, or to come.
That is no country for old men. The young
In early Irish tradition there is a type of narrative known as imram, a sea voyage in which a hero or saint sails to the West to find the earthly paradise. Yeats adapts this notion in the next poem, except he abandons Ireland not for the West by for Byzantium and the East.
The poem Sailing to Byzantium written by W. B. Yeats is a poem about the spiritual journey of an old man who leaves the world of the young in search of immortality and spiritual peace. The first half of the poem talks about the world of the young and the second half talks about Byzantium city.
