Sailing to Byzantium Spirituality

The vivacity of the human soul is what saves humankind from a slow and rather painful decline into uselessness. Notice, however, that it’s not the man himself who’s clapping: it’s his soul. Does the distinction between the two make any difference in your reading of the poem?

A new way of life necessitates a new place to live. The journey to Byzantium becomes a way for the speaker to reflect on past and future without really focusing on his present situation. After all, who really cares that much about a boat journey (unless, of course, it’s the Titanic)?

Giving himself over completely to the sages, the speaker even seems to shift the direction of his voice. In stanzas 1-2 he seems to be reflecting on his past to himself or even to a fellow traveler. By stanza 3, however, he’s directly addressing the sages. He’s moved into his present moment (and that’s a big step, believe us).

The concept of eternity as an "artifice" is one that runs against most conventional religious depictions of an afterlife. Even rebirth is rarely characterized as something created, something unnatural. The type of rebirth our speaker wants, however, is not anything that you’ll find in typical descriptions of eternity.