Sailing to Byzantium Flashcards
What is form of ‘Sailing to Byzantium’?
-The poem is in the form ‘Ottava Rima’ with each stanza consisting of 5 lines in Iambic pentameter with rhyme scheme ABABABCC
- Ottava Rima is an old Italian form which is used in epic, heroic poems which emphasises why it was used in a poem of Sailing and the journey through life
- -> It also links to the romantic idea of solitude: the way in which WBY has lived his life
-The use of Roman numerals emphasise the eternality of the poem and how, as art and writing, it will last forever
What is the context of ‘Sailing to Byzantium’? (3)
- Published in 1928
- Byzantium is a historic empire which was renowned for it’s arts and culture
- The poem was re-written three times to emphasise how WBY strove for perfection within his art pieces
What are the themes and overall messages of ‘Sailing to Byzantium’? (3)
- Old age
- Artificial superior to natural
- Surviving for eternity through the medium of art
How does WBY emphasise his old age in ‘Sailing to Byzantium’?
“That is no country for old men. The young / In one another’s arms,”
- ->In 1922, the Irish Free state was formed following the Anglo Irish treaty and created a new generation of Irish leaders and got rid of the old English ones–> hence, WBY feels he, as a member of the old generation, has no place in society
- ->emphatic positioning of “young” at the end of the line juxtaposes “old”
-“An aged man is but a paltry thing” - WBY believes he now has nothing left to offer and is meaningless now
- “A tattered coat upon a stick”
- ->”tattered coat” a metaphor of the old and aged skin whilst the “stick” represents the wearied bones of WBY that hold the “coat” (skin)
“And fastened to a dying animal / It knows not what it is”
- ->Displays how his heart and mind are not aging but his body is dragging him down
- ->”It knows not what it is” emphasises how his body does not recognise it’s importance to Yeats as it is dying
How does WBY display that all parts of nature are born to die and it is a part of life in ‘Sailing to Byzantium’?
“-Those dying generations-“
–>displays how all things in nature die and nothing lasts forever (all generations are dying)- separated by the two dashes displays the isolation of these dying generations as they are neglected by youth
“The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas”
- Mackerel lay up to 1 million eggs: born to reproduce & emphasises how its a world for the young
- salmon die almost immediately after giving birth: the old have no purpose
“Fish, flesh or fowl, commend all summer long / Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.”
- ->Tricolon of nature: “fish, flesh or fowl” displays how all of nature dies
- ->contrast between fricative “fish, flesh or fowl”, and plosive “begotten, born, and dies” emphasises how all the beauties of nature will at some point die
How does WBY display the importance of the arts in ‘Sailing to Byzantium’?
“sensual music all neglect” displays how the youth appreciate are for it’s sensory values and neglect it’s artistic- and most important- appeal
“nor is there singing school but studying / Monuments of its own magnificence” - how the arts are like monuments that retain their beauty forever –> reference to “dance” in ‘The Cat and The Moon’ and ‘Among Schoolchildren’
“set upon a golden bough to sing”
–>his poetry acts as a song and a piece of art that is acheived through the medium of the poem itself- the poem acts as the song and thus WBY does become the golden bird (“bough”)
What are the religious and spiritual references made in ‘Sailing to Byzantium’? (3)
repetition of “holy fire” displays how WBY feels both the realities of heaven and hell, and essentially, of the afterlife
- “perne in a gyre” makes reference to the cycle of time
- “Once out of nature I shall never take / My bodily form from any natural thing” - Displays how WBY doesnt want to be re-incarnated as he will merely have to feel the same pain over death as he feels now
- Mixture of beliefs such as heavn/hell, reincarnation and gyres displays WBY’s overall confusion at the afterlife and nature of existence
How does WBY display a preference for the artificial over natural creations in ‘Sailing to Byzantium’?
“But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make / of hammered gold and gold enamelling”- “hammered” and “enamelling” are both artificial and Yeats displays how he prefers them as he wants to be in their form and he sees them as “gold”
“Or set upon a golden bough to sing”
–>WBY would rather be a golden, artifical bird, than a real one as it means that it would last longer
How does WBY display that he wants to remain eternal through nature in ‘Sailing to Byzantium’?
“And therefore I have sailed the seas and come/ To the holy city of Byzantium”
–>WBY feels that as he has aged, he has sailed and become part of the monuments of Byzantium and of everlasting art
”; and gather me/ Into the artifice of eternity
–> The only way to live forever is to be made an artifact of art and WBY wants to be made a part of it
“Byzantium / of what is past, or passing, or to come”
–>If WBY becomes part of Byzantium, he will be able to experience the past of the ancient city, the time passing and all of the future as he will become an artifact of art
What is the significance of the title ‘Sailing to Byzantium’?
“Sailing” makes more emphasis on the journey than the destination
-“Sailing” can also be a metaphor for passing through life and coming to old age
“Byzantium” itself no longer exists which highlights the impossibility of the dream of lasting forever there, and also displays how not even the art of Byzantium is eternal– WBY realises that nothing lasts forever but through writing the poem itself will live on past the poet’s life
