Sailing to Byzantium Quotes
Quotes
Explanation: The poet says young people enjoy love, music, and nature. But they ignore the old. So, the country is not for aged people.“That is no country for old men.”
Explanation: The poet compares an old man to a weak, useless figure like a coat hanging on a stick.“An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick.”
Explanation: The poet wants to remove his weak heart that is full of worldly desires.“Consume my heart away; sick with desire.”
Explanation: After death, the poet wants a spiritual, eternal form—not anything natural or decaying.“Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing.”
Explanation: The poet wants to become a golden work of art—beautiful and eternal.“Of hammered gold and gold enamelling.”