english literature:how does Yeates present the theme of ageing

How does William Yeats present the theme of ageing in ‘’Sailing to Byzantium’’.

"Sailing to Byzantium" begins as a meditation on the things which age leaves behind: bodily pleasure, sex, and regeneration. As death approaches, the speaker turns towards the possibility of rebirth as a potential solution for the trauma of watching his own body deteriorate. The line between spiritual and physical rebirth becomes blurred as the speaker imagines placing his soul into an art object, something that can outlast all mortal creatures.
Sailing to Byzantium portrays the agony of old age and the painstaking implorations and hopes the speaker has of leaving some form of permanence as a monument to his soul. This poem depicts a metaphorical journey of leaving the country of the young that the speaker can no longer relate to and traveling to Byzantium, a world of artistic magnificence and permanence. The poem portrays themes of aging and death, exploring the speakers desires to leave a mark on the world. This depressing theme creates an ironic contrast and a sad parallelism against the poetic form of ottava rima that it is written in. Throughout the poem, use of symbolism is central, first emerging in the title of the poem and continuing to be implemented through the prominent motifs of music and birds. The speaker also uses the image of a scarecrow-like figure to illustrate the absurdity of a tattered, useless old man and thus emphasize his consuming fear of the aging process.

The underlying theme of Sailing to Byzantium is the speaker's intense dread of age and death, leading to a fascination with the artificial which manifests itself in his desire to leave behind a timeless monument. The poem begins with painting a picture of nature in all its youthful glory with "the young" people of his country encircled "in one another's arms", "birds in the trees"; "the salmon" falling alongside the "the mackerel-crowded seas". This pretty picture of "fish, flesh" and "fowl" commending "all summer long" is depicted in an almost exuberant tone which is quickly polarized by the speaker stating that death is the dark underbelly of all the delights in life and that "whatever is begotten, born and dies". The speaker also refers to "the young" and birds as "dying generations", indicating that all that is organic is prone to death and decay. To emphasize this point, an aged man is described as nothing "but a paltry thing", a miserable shadow of a "tattered coat upon a stick". This is a reflection of the speaker and his consuming fear of what will or has already become of himself. His trepidation towards the aging process leads to a consuming fascination with the artificial, which he considers superior to the natural. To our speaker, artificiality is not merely a simple aesthetic escape, but a spiritual outlet which
One of the most stunning poems reflecting implicit fear of aging in poems by William Butler Yeats occurs throughout “Sailing to Byzantium.” This poem was written in 1926 as W.B. Yeats was growing older and beginning to realize the meaning and consequences of old age. “Sailing to Byzantium” reflects the speaker’s desire to return to an older age far from the youthful excesses and their inability to recognize age and wisdom. One of the important quotes from “Sailing to Byzantium” is at the beginning and says, “that is no country for old men. The young / in one another’s arms, birds in the trees—those dying generations” which discusses the reason for the speaker’s journey. He no longer feels he has a place among the youthful exuberance and seeks something more fulfilling and ancient. Although the young represented in the poem by William Butler Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium” are “those dying generations” they are nonetheless too engaged with their trivialities to understand the pursuits of an old man who feels he is condemned to live in an aging body, or “fastened to a dying animal” while his soul yearns to be free.