Sailing to Byzantium

I apologize for being late in posting this!

Sailing to Byzantium was written in the later years of Yeats' life. He was aging and you can sense the slight edge of bitterness as he speaks about a man's journey to Byzantium or Constantinople. The country the man is leaving is one of youth and art. The young are caught up in the beauty of nature and "neglect / Monuments of unageing intellect" (Lines 7-8). The old man wishes to be carried away from this world to Byzantium, which our textbook describes as "a center for artists." He desires a place where he can be eternally surrounded by beauty and not held down by his body. This is what Byzantium represents. It is a place where you can be taught to sing and be fully immersed in studying. The body will not hold him down and the eternal focus of the soul can be achieved. If he reaches Byzantium, then his journey can inspire other people.

In this clip, Yeats himself is reading his poem. You can hear the bitter edge in his voice in the first two stanzas, as he speaks of the neglect that is being made by the youth of the world. As he reaches the poems end and speaks of the longing for Byzantium, his voice swells and you can almost sense the joy that is in his voice. He is longing to reach a place of rest and fully immerse himself in beauty and art once again, with no hindrance from his body any longer. You can feel the passion that he is presenting in this poem. It is fully of beautiful images and is truly one of his finest works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs16QC_J5CI