...II April, 14th, 2014 The Transcendence of Art in W. B Yeats’ “Sailing to Byzantium” William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet, dramatist and author born in Dublin in 1865. As he lived during a period of political, economic and even social turmoil, his poetic style went through five periods that adapted to the current situation not only in Ireland, but all over Europe. Yeats’ special interest in the Celtic Revival Movement led him to become one of the founding members of the National Theatre of Ireland in 1904, which became the flagship for Irish playwrights and actors. In 1923 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature “for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation”. “Sailing to Byzantium,” written in 1926 and included in the collection The Tower, can be interpreted both as a journey taken by the speaker’s aged soul and as the process of transcendence of his own mortality by means of art. “Sailing to Byzantium,” consisting of a four eight-line stanza poem, is metered in iambic pentameter with two trios of alternating rhyme followed by a couplet. Having neither characters nor plot “Sailing to Byzantium” refers to the agony of old age and the work required to remain a vital individual. Byzantium is mainly a trading city: a center of power, knowledge and art, where “monuments of unageing intellect” (8) can be found. In the speaker’s view, Byzantium is “no country for old man” (1), but a city crowded by younger...
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...The Strongest Support of the Soul ——Appreciation of the eternal artistry in Ode on a Grecian Urn and Sailing to Byzantine Abstract: From the romantic poet John Keats to symbolical poet W. B. Yeats, both of them were persistently searching the eternity in the long journey of life. This paper tries to through the analysis of the two poems, Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn and Yeats' Sailing to Byzantium to reveal the truth that the strongest support of the soul not lies in the empty and rapidly decayed body but relies on the eternal artistry which transcends the time and space. Although the former comes from the romantic imagination of an exquisite works of art---an ancient Grecian urn, the latter originates from the Byzantium which is the symbol of art, of eternity, both of them contain the similar life philosophy, that is the immortal life lies in the art of eternal. Key words: Ode on a Grecian Urn ; Sailing to Byzantium; eternal artistry; timeless Introduction Life is limited, yet it is possible to find the eternal life. Is it contradictory? How can life be limited as well as eternal at the same time? Could it be true that life has no ending? Actually, as we all know, no matter who you are, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, smart or mediocre, eventually you will die. However, there is one thing will never die, which is not belong to this dusty world.—that is the eternal artistry. It is true that the art will never die. Only...
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...‘Sailing to Byzantium’ and Time Written in 1926, ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ is Yeats’s definitive statement about the agony of old age and maintaining relevance in society. Yeats’s solution is to leave the country of the young and travel to Byzantium, where the sages in the city’s famous gold mosaics could become the “singing-masters” of his soul. In doing this, he hopes the sages will appear and provide him with a life outside of time; distant from the boundaries of mortality, where, like a great work of art, he could exist in “the artifice of eternity.” The four eight-line stanzas of “Sailing to Byzantium” take a very old verse form; they are metered in iambic pentameter, and rhymed ABABABCC, two trios of alternating rhyme followed by a couplet. This form represents the journey to Byzantium, the poem goes somewhere the same way that the man does. Yeats creates tension between the immortal and mortal through the words ‘dying generations.’ This juxtaposition conveys the image of society being in a cycle. It implies that everybody is so hung up on creating new life, in order to cancel out death, and the effects of time on the human race. This also brings about the theme of isolation; the man does not feel as though he is part of this cycle and now struggles to have a significant role in society. Despite this desire to be relevant, he is also torn between the ideas of being eternal as a piece of art. Yeats refers to ‘monuments’ which can be seen as eternal. However, the man is...
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...and how it’s obtained or lost. The characters analyzed in this essay strive for perfection, success, and vengeance through their obstacles. The quest for the ideal is important because it shapes imagination, creativity, and lifestyle. Henry A. Kissinger explains where an ideal can be found, when he concludes, “For other nations, utopia is a blessed past never to be recovered; for [some people] it is just beyond the horizon.” Kissinger describes that for some, their ideal is in the past and others it’s in the future. The three pieces of literature examined in this essay are analyzed through Kissinger’s theory. In literature the quest for the ideal can often result in the pursuer’s death, this is shown in “The Great Gatsby,” “Sailing to Byzantium,” and “Hamlet.” Gatsby’s ambition to turn back time and fall in love with Daisy again, ultimately leads him to his downfall. Gatsby wanted to turn time back because Daisy and him were once deeply in love, however after Gatsby left for war she was doubtful he would return. Daisy found a more secure relationship with Tom Buchanan and Gatsby’s new ideal was to fulfill the American Dream and win Daisy over. However the American Dream has no room for love and Gatsby isn’t ready to abandon either. Gatsby’s desire to gain the same connection he once had with Daisy, blinds him from the truth. F. Scott Fitzgerald shows Gatsby’s persistence for his ideal when he says, “Can’t repeat the past? ... Why of course you can!” He is convinced...
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...William Yeats: A Mystical Poet Zach King Mrs. Shealey Period 4- English 4 23 April 2012 Zach King Mrs. Shealey Period 4- English 4 23 April 2012 William Yeats: A Mystical Poet Thesis: William Yeats was a 20th century Irish poet who loved the magical things of life. I. Time period A. World War I B. Irish Revolution II. Life A. Early B. Later III. Works A. “Sailing to Byzantium” B. “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” King 1 Zach King Mrs. Shealey Period 4- English 4 23 April 2012 William Yeats: A Mystical Poet Magic and the supernatural come together to meet in William Butler Yeats’ poetry. Yeats was one of the front-runners in poems that had to deal with the occult and unnatural. He is considered one of the greatest English writers. William Yeats was a 20th century Irish poet who loved the magical things of life. At the time of William Butler Yeats, the First World War broke out. At first, the war was caused by the creation of Germany that changed the balance of power in Europe. The people that were the cause of the first attacks of the war were the Continental Powers. The fighting in the war came mostly from trenches that were dug on the boarders. Throughout the war technology kept advancing and World War I was the first war that used airplanes in combat. Along with the new use of airplanes in the war, the first tanks were being invented and built by the people in France and Great Britain. The use of sending spies into enemies’...
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...eventually began using the image of a gyre to represent his spiritual canon. Yeats believed that the era he lived in was the end of the Christian-Cycle of the world and the beginning of the Human-Cycle. Much of Yeat’s inspiration was derived from mythologies, mysticism, and the occult of Ireland and other cultures, Christianity included; other inspiration, in his later years, developed from the Irish Rebellion, the Russian Revolution, World War I, and other political matters of his era. Much of the symbolism Yeats uses draws heavily from his metaphysical beliefs; he used well-known symbols to get his point across as well as cryptic and ambiguous symbols to keep his works relevant throughout time. In the poems “The Second Coming” and “Sailing to Byzantium”, Yeats uses symbolism to make poignant, haunting statements on the contemporary issues of his time involving society and human existence that, by his own design, are still relevant today. In the poem “The Second Coming”, Yeats is waxing poetic over the chaos created by war and political strife. His belief in historical determinism is hinted at with the line “Turning and turning in the widening gyre”. It’s also a reference to his cyclical beliefs in that, the conclusion of one era is the beginning of the next, which is strengthened by the next line: “The falcon cannot hear the falconer,” an allusion that can be construed as the worker-classes ignoring their rulers....
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...asserted the permanence of the sages in fire . The old man requested those agent of God to purify his souls. So here fire stands for purification. So he appealed to them : “Consume my heart away, sick with desire And fastened to a dying animal.” It is very significant because the old man wants to burn all his animal desires that are the black mundane wishes of our soul. It will be then easy to go to the eternity. Here the burning is not agony but the blessings of God. Through this fiery purification we may take the divine shape. Here Yeats used fire not as destroyer but preserver that remind us God Shiva in Hindu mythology. No doubt here fire stands for purgatory. In this regard the second important poem is “Byzantium” where the poet described the ‘fiery purification’ in detail. In the opening line the poet said -- “The unpurged images of the day recede’ that imply that those ‘unpurged’ should be purged that is the point of view. After describing the skeltonic urpurged shape the poet directly went to the purification episode. He wonderfully described the divine fire that is blazing autonomously without any support of faggot or steel. He said – “Flames that no faggot feeds, nor steel has...
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...In “Sailing to Byzantium” an old man faces the problem of old age, of death, and of regeneration, and gives his decision. Old age, he tells us, excludes a man from the sensual joys of youth; the world appears to belong completely to the young, it is no place for the old; indeed, an old man is scarcely a man at all—he is an empty artifice, an effigy merely, of a man; he is a tattered coat upon a stick. This would be very bad, except that the young also are excluded from something; rapt in their sensuality, they are ignorant utterly of the world of the spirit. Hence if old age frees a man from sensual passion, he may rejoice in the liberation of the soul; he is admitted into the realm of the spirit; and his rejoicing will increase according as he realizes the magnificence of the soul. But the soul can best learn its own greatness from the great works of art; hence he turns to those great works, but in turning to them, he finds that these are by no means mere effigies, or monuments, but things which have souls also; these live in the noblest element of God’s fire, free from all corruption; hence he prays for death, for release from his mortal body; and since the insouled monuments exhibit the possibility of the soul’s existence in some other matter than flesh, he wishes reincarnation, not now in a mortal body, but in the immortal and changeless embodiment of art. There are thus the following terms, one might say, from which the poem suspends: the condition of the young, who are...
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...Discuss the ways in which Yeats presents his ideas about ageing in ‘Among School Children’ The theme of ageing is central in the poem ‘Among School Children’ as surrounded by youthful children during his visit to a convent school in Waterford, Yeats reviews his own deteriorating state and contemplates whether old age is a state where people can express their true selves. In 1926, Senator Yeats visited St Otterans, which inspired him to write ‘Among School Children’. The poem shows an external persona, Yeats as the ‘smiling public man’ but blurs this with Yeats tormented inner persona where he writes about his true emotions towards ageing and his disgust of his and his desired lover, Maud Gonne’s physical state in old age. Firstly, Yeats presents his negative attitude towards ageing by idealising youth in his old age. As he looks upon a youthful Maud Gonne, he describes ‘and thereupon my heart was driven wild’. The lexical choice ‘wild’ emphasises Yeats’s uncontrollable and obsessional love towards Maud Gonne and how he feels that it has held him back in his old age. Yeats is left feeling bitter towards ageing as he reminisces about the memories of unrequited love in his old age. The hypnotising ABABACC rhyme scheme emphasises the hypnotic effect of Maud Gonne’s face and how Yeats is being drawn back into his youthful memories. This line mirrors the line ‘imagination and heart were driven so wild’ in the ‘Cold Heaven’, a similar poem where Yeats expresses the desire to...
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...Realism in 21st Century The world, in view of the fact that it was created is changing. With the changing desires and demands of today’s standard of living, individual needs to be in sync with the demands and trends of modern day living. Not too long ago, people were seen doing stuffs that have turned out to be more of a routine in today’s humankind. Every single day a new type of technology is been introduced in today's world. So, the question arises that is theses changes necessary in today's world? If yes, does it have a good or a bad impact to the human society in today's world? We need to talk about in which approach hi-tech advancements that pace into our daily lives have altered our lifestyles in the very last few centuries. In today’s world each and every single people rely on new and advance technologies. Everyone loves new technologies and gadgets that promise innovative and better ways of living. A pace of life is frequently increasing with the increase in new technologies. Nowadays somewhat more a quarter of the earth’s population can be found in the industrialized societies. And half of the population still lives on past agriculture, but they are also relying on machines. The remaining of the world’s population, however, is no longer of either the past or the present. They live in the future, within the most important centers of cultural and technological change, in New York, California, Cambridge, London and Tokyo (Toffler, p. 38). A new part of technology...
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...They would later go to war over these territories and Genoa would emerge victorious in 1284. Genoa greatly developed trade with the east and took advantage of the crusades creating connections with Byzantium in 1204 due to an increased demand for products from the middle east. In 1284 when Genoa defeated Pisa it gained control over trade with countries such as Turkey, Egypt, & the Russian Empire. As a result, Genoa became a center point between the European countries and the Middle East due to its newly formed abilities to connect these two regions. This allowed Genoa to greatly expand its economic power from the massive amounts of trade both entering and exiting its city ports. After this governing merchants in Genoa had power comparable to kings of European states. Their success in trade leads to vast demographic and urban expansion....
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...MODERN BRITISH LITERATURE (c. 1900 to 1950) READING LIST Please note that there are two lists below. The first is the full list with the core readings in bold; the second is the core list separated out. You are responsible for all core readings and may incorporate readings from the full list into your tailored list. Unless otherwise noted, selections separated by commas indicate all works students should know. A. FICTION Beckett, Samuel. One of the following: Murphy, Watt, Molloy Bennett, Arnold. Clayhanger Bowen, Elizabeth. The Heat of the Day Butler, Samuel. The Way of All Flesh Chesterton, G.K. The Man Who Was Thursday Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness AND one of: Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, Nostromo, Under Western Eyes Ford, Ford Madox. The Good Soldier Forster, E. M. Howards End, A Passage to India (plus the essays “What I Believe” and “The Challenge of Our Times” in Two Cheers for Democracy) Galsworthy, John. The Man of Property Greene, Graham. One of: Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory, The Heart of the Matter Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World Joyce, James. Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses Kipling, Rudyard. Kim Lawrence, D. H. Two of: Sons and Lovers, Women in Love, The Rainbow, The Plumed Serpent Lewis, Wyndham. Tarr, manifestos in BLAST 1 Mansfield, Katherine. “Prelude,” “At the Bay,” “The Garden Party,” “The Daughters of the Late Colonel” (in Collected Stories) Orwell, George. 1984 (or Aldous Huxley, Brave New World) Wells, H. G. One of the...
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...FAMOUS WRITERS & THEIR WORK Old English (Anglo-Saxon Period): writers: Caedmon and Cynewulf. work: Beowulf (by anonymous). 1200-1500: Middle English Period : Geoffrey Chaucer's(1343-1400) : The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Criseyde and Book of the Duchess. Other Major Poems The House of Fame, The Parliament of Fowles, The Legend of Good Women. Prose Treatises Treatise on the astrolabe. Short Poems The Complaint of Chaucer to His Purse ,Truth, Gentilesse, Merciles Beaute, Lak of Stedfastnesse, Against Women Unconstant. Geoffrey Chaucer Thomas Malory's (1405-1471) : Morte d'Arthur. work: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (by anonymous). 1500-1660: The English Renaissance 1500-1558: Tudor Period (Humanist Era) The Humanists: Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) : Utopia, The History of King Richard the Third, The Life of Pico della Mirandola, The Four Last Things, A Dialogue Concerning Tyndale, The Confutation of Tyndale's Answer, A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation and Sadness of Christ . Sir Thomas More John Skelton (1460-1529): A ballade of the Scottysshe Kynge John Skelton Sir Thomas Wyatt(1503-1542): My Lute Awake! Once, As Methought, Fortune Me Kissed They Flee From Me The restful place ! renewer of my smart It may be good, like it who list In faith I wot not what to say There Was Never Nothing More Me Pained Patience ! though I have not Though I Cannot Your Cruelty Constrain Blame Not My Lute My Pen ! Take Pain The heart and...
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...The Crusades In 1095 an assembly of churchmen called by Pope Urban II met at Clermont, France. Messengers from the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus had urged the pope to send help against the armies of Muslim Turks. On November 27 the pope addressed the assembly and asked the warriors of Europe to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims. The response of the assembly was overwhelmingly favorable. Thus was launched the first and most successful of at least eight crusades against the Muslim caliphates of the Near East. "God wills it!" That was the battle cry of the thousands of Christians who joined crusades to free the Holy Land from the Muslims. From 1096 to 1270 there were eight major crusades and two children's crusades, both in the year 1212. Only the First and Third Crusades were successful. In the long history of the Crusades, thousands of knights, soldiers, merchants, and peasants lost their lives on the march or in battle. 1095: Beginning of the Crusades In 1095 an assembly of churchmen called by Pope Urban II met at Clermont, France. Messengers from the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus had urged the pope to send help against the armies of Muslim Turks. On November 27 the pope addressed the assembly and asked the warriors of Europe to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims. The response of the assembly was overwhelmingly favorable. Thus was launched the first and most successful of at least eight crusades against the Muslim caliphates of the Near East. The...
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...B.A. (HONOURS) ENGLISH (Three Year Full Time Programme) COURSE CONTENTS (Effective from the Academic Year 2011-2012 onwards) DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH UNIVERSITY OF DELHI DELHI - 110007 0 Course: B.A. (Hons.) English Semester I Paper 1: English Literature 4(i) Paper 2: Twentieth Century Indian Writing(i) Paper 3: Concurrent – Qualifying Language Paper 4: English Literature 4(ii) Semester II Paper 5: Twentieth Century Indian Writing(ii) Paper 6: English Literature 1(i) Paper 7: Concurrent – Credit Language Paper 8: English Literature 1(ii) Semester III Paper 9: English Literature 2(i) Paper 10: Option A: Nineteenth Century European Realism(i) Option B: Classical Literature (i) Option C: Forms of Popular Fiction (i) Paper 11: Concurrent – Interdisciplinary Semester IV Semester V Paper 12: English Literature 2(ii) Paper 13: English Literature 3(i) Paper 14: Option A: Nineteenth Century European Realism(ii) Option B: Classical Literature (ii) Option C: Forms of Popular Fiction (ii) Paper 15: Concurrent – Discipline Centered I Paper 16: English Literature 3(ii) Paper 17: English Literature 5(i) Paper 18: Contemporary Literature(i) Paper 19: Option A: Anglo-American Writing from 1930(i) Option B: Literary Theory (i) Option C: Women’s Writing of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (i) Option D: Modern European Drama (i) Paper 20: English Literature 5(ii) Semester VI Paper 21: Contemporary Literature(ii) Paper 22: Option A: Anglo-American Writing from 1930(ii) Option B:...
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