Yeats had a mythicalmystical perception of Byzantium. br I have used Westminster Cathederal London for the imagery. br Tell me what you think SVP. br br Sailing To Byzantium br William Butler Yeats br br That is no country for old men. The young br In one another’s arms, birds in the trees br —Those dying generations—at their song, br The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, br Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long br Whatever is begotten, born, and dies. br Caught in that sensual music all neglect br Monuments of unageing intellect. br br An aged man is but a paltry thing, br A tattered coat upon a stick, unless br Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing br For every tatter in its mortal dress, br Nor is there singing school but studying br Monuments of its own magnificence; br And therefore I have sailed the seas and come br To the holy city of Byzantium. br br O sages standing in God’s holy fire br As in the gold mosaic of a wall, br Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre, br And be the singing-masters of my soul. br Consume my heart away; sick with desire br And fastened to a dying animal br It knows not what it is; and gather me br Into the artifice of eternity. br br Once out of nature I shall never take br My bodily form from any natural thing, br But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make br Of hammered gold and gold enamelling br To keep a drowsy Emperor awake; br Or set upon a golden bough to sing br To lords and ladies of Byzantium br Of what is past, or passing, or to come.