"Sailing to Byzantium": Appreciation of Life and the Struggle Between the Ages
"Sailing to Byzantium": Appreciation of Life and the Struggle Between the Ages
In W.B. Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium" the narrator is an older man looking at his life with detest as the way it appears now. He is holding resent for the way the young get to live their lives and how he lives his now. The narrator is dealing with the issue of being older and his sadness of worth in this life, and who is later able to come to terms and accept his life.
In "Sailing to Byzantium" the poem is broken up into four stanzas, each describing a different part of the voyage and the feeling associate with it. Stanza I is the narrators departure to Byzantium; II the voyage done by boat and landing in Byzantium; III in the holy city of Byzantium and visiting the ancient landmarks; IV the desire of the narrator to become a part of physical aspect of Byzantium. In first stanza the narrator of the poem describes that the lands of where he is from is not for the older people, there are too many young people frolicking around enjoying their lives, while the older people and sulking and are not take pleasure in their own lives. To him he sees the young people neglecting the knowledge they have around them "Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect." The place he is taking his voyage to see to be much more enjoyable when the people are more full of life. It seems to the man that everyone within Byzantium is able to escape life through music. In the second stanza, the man is likely mediating aboard the ship on growing old. (Hochman 211) He feels that as if his body is withering away and that his is much more badly off then any of the young. According to Olsen, in the line "every tatter in this mortal dress" is cause for further argumentation of joy, and the soul is able to rejoice. (216) "The soul of the aged must be strong to seek that which youth neglects. Hence the old must seek Byzantium; that is the county of the old." (Olsen
In W.B. Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium" the narrator is an older man looking at his life with detest as the way it appears now. He is holding resent for the way the young get to live their lives and how he lives his now. The narrator is dealing with the issue of being older and his sadness of worth in this life, and who is later able to come to terms and accept his life.
In "Sailing to Byzantium" the poem is broken up into four stanzas, each describing a different part of the voyage and the feeling associate with it. Stanza I is the narrators departure to Byzantium; II the voyage done by boat and landing in Byzantium; III in the holy city of Byzantium and visiting the ancient landmarks; IV the desire of the narrator to become a part of physical aspect of Byzantium. In first stanza the narrator of the poem describes that the lands of where he is from is not for the older people, there are too many young people frolicking around enjoying their lives, while the older people and sulking and are not take pleasure in their own lives. To him he sees the young people neglecting the knowledge they have around them "Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect." The place he is taking his voyage to see to be much more enjoyable when the people are more full of life. It seems to the man that everyone within Byzantium is able to escape life through music. In the second stanza, the man is likely mediating aboard the ship on growing old. (Hochman 211) He feels that as if his body is withering away and that his is much more badly off then any of the young. According to Olsen, in the line "every tatter in this mortal dress" is cause for further argumentation of joy, and the soul is able to rejoice. (216) "The soul of the aged must be strong to seek that which youth neglects. Hence the old must seek Byzantium; that is the county of the old." (Olsen
Cited: Gardener, Elizabeth & Gonzalvez, Daphne: WB YEATS Studying The Poems. Australia: Centatime Publishers, 1995. Yeats, W.B. The Collection of Poems by W.B. Yeats: Definitive Edition, With the Author 's Final Revisions. New York: MacMillan, 1959 Michael Harvey 's Nuts and Bolts of College Writing 2002