Sailing to Byzantium
That is no country for old men. The young
In one another’s arms, birds in the trees
—Those dying generations—at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
O sages standing in God’s holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.
Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.
This poem is in the public domain.
About the Poem
Written when Yeats was over sixty, the poem reflects his awareness of physical decline and his desire to transcend the limitations of the aging body through art and spiritual understanding. The speaker, an old man, observes that the world of youth—full of lovers, singing birds, and natural vitality—is no longer a place for him. Everything in this world is caught in a cycle of birth, enjoyment, and death, leaving the elderly feeling alienated and insignificant.
Byzantium represents a spiritual and artistic ideal, a place of eternal wisdom and beauty where the soul can achieve immortality. The speaker’s journey to Byzantium is symbolic rather than literal, reflecting a personal and philosophical quest to move beyond the temporal world and the decay of the body. Yeats uses vivid imagery and symbolic language to convey the tension between the temporal and the eternal. The poem begins with a stark statement: "That is no country for old men," immediately establishing the theme of alienation from the world of youth. The speaker then moves through a contemplative journey, addressing the saints and sages of Byzantium, asking them to teach his soul to sing and achieve immortality.
The poem can be read as a reflection on the artist’s desire for lasting significance. By turning away from the natural world and embracing art and intellect, the speaker seeks to preserve the soul’s vitality beyond the limitations of the body. Critics have noted that the poem embodies Yeats’ philosophical concerns with time, mortality, and the enduring value of human creativity.
