W.B. Yeats faces old age with the wish to forget his decaying body and educate his soul for immortality. In Sailing to Byzantium he makes it clear that the world of senses is not a fit place for an old man. … Appreciation and understanding of art can be achieved only by studying magnificent and immortal works of art.
What does the old man wish to do when he reaches Byzantium?
He wants them to become the “singing masters of his soul,” and to purify his heart. In other words, to teach him to listen to his spiritual music as distinguished from the sensual music (which the poet has mentioned earlier in stanza one).
How does Yeats explore the relationship between old age and art in the poem Sailing to Byzantium?
Closely related to the poem’s ideas about aging, mortality, and the soul is its treatment of art. … The elderly speaker, having left behind the world of the young which no longer has room for him in his frailty, goes to seek spiritual rebirth in the ancient city of Byzantium—an ancient holy city that is now long-dead.
How is the journey from youth to old age described in the poem when you are old?
Answer: The journey from youth to old age is quite heart touching as described in the poem. The period of youth is described as a period when life seems to be very happy and sweet and we are flocked by many admirers. … The poet describes the old age in terms of grey hairs, drowsiness, sorrow, and desolation.
What is the main theme of Sailing to Byzantium?
Major Themes in “Sailing to Byzantium”: Man versus nature and eternity are the major themes of this poem. The poem presents two things: the transience of life and the permanence of nature. The speaker wants to escape from the world where wise people are neglected.
What does Byzantium symbolize in the poem Sailing to Byzantium?
Byzantium is symbolic of a place that may resolve the eternal struggle between the limitations of the physical world and the aspirations of the immortal spirit. The golden bird is a timeless artifact like the poem “Byzantium” itself.
How does the poet desire for immortality in Sailing to Byzantium?
The poet invokes them to come down with a rapid spiral movement and to teach him how to enjoy the beauty of art. They should purify his heart of all physical passions, for he is old like a dying animal incapable of any physical enjoyment. So he prays to them for absorption into the “artifice of eternity”.
Why is Byzantium important?
Overview. Constantinople was the center of Byzantine trade and culture and was incredibly diverse. The Byzantine Empire had an important cultural legacy, both on the Orthodox Church and on the revival of Greek and Roman studies, which influenced the Renaissance.
What are the significance of Golden Bough in Byzantium and Sailing to Byzantium?
Being “set upon a golden bough to sing” in “Sailing to Byzantium” means that the aging speaker wishes to trade his dying body for that of a mechanical bird crafted of gold. As such a bird, he would sit on a golden branch or bough and sing mechanical songs as an immortal work of art.
How does the speaker explain that he is different from others in when you are old?
How does the speaker distinguish/contrast his love from/with that of the others? Answer: … He says that he loved her inner beauty and even the fading away of her youth and beauty. The phrase ‘how many’ in the first line (second stanza) stands in contrast to ‘But one man’, in the third line (second stanza).
Who is the poet addressing his poem to describe the person when you are old?
“When You Are Old” is a bittersweet poem that reveals the complexities of love. The poem is generally taken to be addressed to Maud Gonne, an Irish actress with whom Yeats was infatuated throughout his life (which is why we’re using male and female pronouns in this guide).
What does the poet has to say about life in his old age?
The poet is saying that life is only what we perceive it to be. … The poet says that although he has grown old, his hair is all grey and he walks with a stoop but still he is young at the mind because his thoughts are young. Because life is just a thought, we make of life according to what we perceive of it.
Why did Yeats write Sailing to Byzantium?
The metaphorical journey to Byzantium, his dream city, consolidated this aspiration. The speaker’s wish is to be ‘out of nature’ and to become an eternal form, a crafted work of art. Yeats wrote: … Specifically, the speaker (Yeats) wants to become an artifice, in the form of a singing golden bird.
What Does An aged man is but a paltry thing a tattered coat upon a stick mean?
Yeats is saying that old men are worthless and petty. If we go on and look at the next line in the poem, “A tattered coat upon a stick,” we see that he is comparing himself, and old men in general, to what appears to be scarecrow.