What is Yeats's Attitude to Old Age in Sailing to Byzantium?

Yeats's Attitude to Old Age in Sailing to Byzantium

W.B. Yeats faces old age with the wish to forget his decaying body and educate his soul for immortality. In Sailing to Byzantium he makes it clear that the world of senses is not a fit place for an old man. He must withdraw himself into the world of the intellect and the spirit. In this world young men and women are found in close embrace, birds in trees, singing out of the excitement of the mating season. Thus fish, flesh and fowl are all caught in the sensual urge of the generation which is only a process ending in death. In this universal preoccupation with sex, the young generations can spare no thought for those masterpieces of art which are the products of ageless intellect. 

 

Old age on the other hand is a time of physical decay and decline; when a man no longer has the capacity for physical enjoyment. He becomes as worthless and helpless as a scarecrow. He is a contemptible figure unless he devoted himself to the study and enjoyment of art. Appreciation and understanding of art can be achieved only by studying magnificent and immortal works of art. Since Byzantium is the traditional home of art, the poet has decided to go there to devote himself to the study of its treasures. 

 

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