The poem, “Sailing to Byzantium” by William Butler Yeats, is an in depth look at the journeys of one man seeking to escape the idle and uneducated society of Europe. Yeats pursues a society of which sensual and artistic domains reign. The goal of the author is to become a part of Byzantine civilization and to be forever immortalized in the artwork presented in gold on the walls of the Byzantine churches. Immersion into a different culture and lifestyle is the only way to truly experience and fully understand the ways of this other culture. By surrounding oneself in an unknown environment, one develops great character and becomes less ignorant to differences in others. People tend to become quite unenlightened when all time is spent in the culture of which one is born. Many need to journey beyond their safe haven and experience the life which others live. To walk in another man’s shoes is to truly know what that man is feeling. In the first stanza the author explains that the land of which he speaks is not one for old folks. There is many young people lolling about enjoying life. The fish of the sea, the mammals of the land, and the birds of the air acclaim all the summer long. Summer here tends to mean all year. Summer is a very passive time of year. All God’s creatures are described as lazy and uninterested in the knowledge there is to be sought after. “Caught in that sensual music all neglect monuments of unaging intellect.” These verses indicate to the reader how enjoyable life must be in this far away land. Everyone and everything escapes reality in the arousing music of desire. Love is a prominent portrait portrayed in this first stanza.The second stanza examines how wonderful it is in the stimulating city of Byzantium. The natural and biological world is forgotten and the thrilling and artistic world is brought into full view. Older men are insignificant unless every thread on...
