William Butler Yeats deals with a variety of different themes from the political and historical to the magical and mystical. Whilst his patriotic poems are a call to arms for those like him who desired a return to the age of revolutionary heroes‚ it is Yeats’ poems that deal with myth‚ magic and symbolism that reveal the deeper side of his poetic imagination. This essay will deal with the related poems Sailing to Byzantium and its sequel of sorts Byzantium. Sailing to Byzantium is a poem that
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Samantha Clark Forster ENLT 2523 19 September 2011 Yeats and the Everlasting “Everything exists‚ everything is true and the earth is just a bit of dust beneath our feet‚” writes the famed William Butler Yeats on one of his favorite subjects: eternity. Yeats’s poetry often deals with the conflict of the temporal and the eternal. The chronology of Yeats’s life allows for a very interesting exploration of this conflict—coming of age at the end of the nineteenth century‚ Yeats’s literary career
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The poem "Sailing to Byzantium" is one of the most substantial pieces included in W.B. Yeats ’s final book "The Tower". Created in the later years of his life‚ many of the poems in The Tower deal with the issues of old age and leaving the natural world‚ but none so strongly as "Sailing to Byzantium". Byzantium itself symbolized eternity to Yeats; it was an ancient city that represented a place of artistic and intellectual permanence. Yeats believed that ""in early Byzantium‚ maybe never before or
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What is “Sailing to Byzantium” About? The poem “Sailing to Byzantium”‚ written by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)‚ is seemingly written about how time affects us‚ and how someone can become eternal to avoid its effects. As the poem was written in 1926‚ with Yeats at 61 years if age‚ the poem reflects his fears of aging and becoming obsolete‚ with the main theme being that of the mutual human/animal condition: We are born‚ we live and then we die. The narrator of this poem seeks a place where he
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Compare the presentation of change in Yeats’ ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ and ‘The Second Coming’ Both of Yeats’ poems express his opinions and viewpoint of the changes in society and people’s beliefs. Through the poem ‘The Second Coming’ Yeats highlights his belief that the twentieth century had seen the beginning of a new darker era‚ full of violence and struggles for independence and the effects of the Great War. The second poem ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ expresses Yeats’ observations of old age and the comforting
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English Comp 2 February 22‚ 2010 On my first reading of “Sailing to Byzantium”‚ it didn’t make much sense‚ but after reading and doing more research I believe that Yeats’s is the older man that is in “Sailing to Byzantium”. In a way he was writing this poem to reflect his own life. He wanted to take the reader on a journey through the process of life and death. Yeats lived from 1865 to 1939 and this poem was written in 1926. Yeats has an obsession with the past both the distant past and that of his
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Sailing to Byzantium Poetry means many things to people all over the world. Poetry is an outlet or artistic and creative way of telling a story or expressing your emotions. It is something that does not require a lot of skill‚ but imagination and feeling. “Sailing to Byzantium” written by William Butler Yeats is a poem that speaks of the craving for something one cannot have and the immortality of people‚ art and intellect‚ and greatness. “Sailing to Byzantium” is a poem based on the theme longing
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. c o m Page 1 Background Yeats wrote this poem in 1916‚ when he was fifty one years of age. Coole Park‚ in Co. Galway was the home of Lady Augusta Gregory‚ Yeats’ friend and patron. In the poem‚ he reflects on how his life has changed since he was a younger man and walked ‘with a lighter tread’. In reality‚ Yeats had not been carefree in his youth‚ but for the purposes of this poem‚ we must suspend disbelief and take him at his word. In 1916‚ Yeats’ love‚ Maud Gonne was widowed. Her
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to Byzantium‚ The Lake Isle of Inisfree‚ The Second Coming‚ September 1913‚ Easter 1916 and The Wild Swans of Coole. Yeats’s interest in mysticism‚ the occult‚ ancient civilizations‚ eastern religions‚ theosophy and Celtic myths and motifs are highly influential in supporting this tension between the real and the ideal. This statement exemplifies Yeats’s adage; “People who lean on logic and philosophy and rational exposition end by starving the best part of their mind.” Sailing to Byzantium is perhaps
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SAILING TO BYZANTIUM “Sailing to Byzantium‚” first published in 1928 as part of Yeats’s collection‚ The Tower‚ contains only four stanzas and yet is considered to be one of the most effective expressions of Yeats’s arcane poetic “system‚” exploring tensions between art and ordinary life and demonstrating how‚ through an imaginative alchemy‚ the raw materials of life can be transformed into something enduring. In “Sailing to Byzantium‚” the artist/speaker transforms himself into a work of art‚ and
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