Difference between revisions of "Sailing to Byzantium"
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| − | W.B. Yeats | + | W.B. Yeats, 1926 |
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That is no country for old men. The young<br /> | That is no country for old men. The young<br /> | ||
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Monuments of unaging intellect. | Monuments of unaging intellect. | ||
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An aged man is but a paltry thing,<br /> | An aged man is but a paltry thing,<br /> | ||
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To the holy city of Byzantium. | To the holy city of Byzantium. | ||
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O sages standing in God's holy fire<br /> | O sages standing in God's holy fire<br /> | ||
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Into the artifice of eternity. | Into the artifice of eternity. | ||
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Once out of nature I shall never take<br /> | Once out of nature I shall never take<br /> | ||
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To lords and ladies of Byzantium<br /> | To lords and ladies of Byzantium<br /> | ||
Of what is past, or passing, or to come. | Of what is past, or passing, or to come. | ||
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{{GR Alpha Nav}} | {{GR Alpha Nav}} | ||
Revision as of 19:45, 15 December 2006
W.B. Yeats, 1926
I
That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in their trees
--Those dying generations--at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackrel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unaging intellect.
II
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
III
O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.
IV
Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.
