Themes

• Old Age and Youth: The poet feels unwanted in a land of youth. Young people love life, but ignore the old. Old age is lonely and painful. Yeats says, “This is no country for old men.”
• Art vs. Nature: Nature is changing and dies with time. But art is timeless and never dies. The poet wants to leave nature and become art. He believes art gives life meaning.
• Desire for Immortality: The poet does not want to die as a human. He wants to live forever as a work of art. He dreams of becoming a golden bird. This bird will sing forever in Byzantium.