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Poster: An Old Man\u27s Byzantium
No full textOne of the most captivating things about W.B. Yeats\u27 poetry in general and Byzantium in particular is its rich symbolism. Symbols are essentially words which are not merely connotative but also suggestive, evocative and emotive. Symbols conjure before the mind\u27s eye a host of images attached to them. Things that are difficult to explain or are inexpressible can be conveyed through symbols. Byzantium\u27 is indeed a laudable attempt at bringing together aesthetics, spiritualism, symbolism, and mysticism together on one common platform. The effect is both revealing and enthralling. The epic exploration of the other world brings into perspective, the question of life in death and death in life. Sailing to Byzantium is a story of a man whose life has come to an end and reflects on his past. The speaker is old and the country that he used to reside in no longer suits him, it is a country geared toward the young. Byzantium represents a timeless hub for pure artistic energy, a utopian living where wisdom, art and nature is accepted. It is the end of his journey as an artist, and the end of his life. From the text and the studying of the poem itself, we had made the assumption that Yeats had made this as a metaphor for life and death, with Byzantium being a representation of the afterlife which he had envisioned for himself. His ideal society was a place timeless artistic energy and a place of pure creativity that he could reside in. This was the society that Yeats strived for and always desired. “The poetry of the last decade of Yeats career deserves special scrutiny because of its unusual importance in the total scheme of his art.” The poetry he wrote after Sailing to Byzantium was his final chapter and his last expressions of himself before death. This is not only his ideal society, but his ideal afterlife as well as he realizes his life is coming to a close.
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Lisa Higgin
