2. Discuss Yeats’ poem, “Sailing to Byzantium.” Where is Byzantium and what kind of voyage does he take? What solace does the aging poet find in “monuments of unageing intellect”?
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From this poem, Byzantium is a holy city that accommodates saints and men who died a long time ago and currently live in the glories of God’s fire. The speaker describes that in this city, he hopes that his soul will be consumed and depleted the youthful desires and be given a virtual form of eternity that will allow him to sing. He likens that he would desire a gold-made form of life by the goldsmith, which resembles a desire for an unnatural life that has limitations.
The speaker takes a voyage through the sea to the holy city. “And therefore I have sailed the seas and come,…” (Yeats, n.d., Stanza II, ln 7-8).
In “monuments of unageing intellect,” the old poet finds solace when birds sing. This is because this generation is swayed by the current civilizations leaving no room for the elderly who lack the current knowledge of the new life trends.
