"Sailing to Byzantium" by W. B. Yeats: Voyage of the Inner Spiritual Essence into the Wisdom and Freedom

Introduction

Sailing to Byzantium, one of  W. B. Yeats’ masterpieces is organized round the dichotomy of flesh and spirit, nature and art where the sea symbolizes the energetic vitality of the former. As Yeats advanced into old age he continued to be troubled by the passions. The voyage in this poem is thus an inner voyage of spiritual awakening. To wards wisdom and freedom from the enslavement to nature. Quite apart from the special meaning that Byzantium has in Yeats’ system, historically it was the meeting point of the Pagan and Christian civilization. The poem carries a symbolic pattern and a mystic philosophic notion is derided. It takes readers on a metaphorical journey, symbolizing the voyage of the inner spiritual essence towards wisdom and freedom. Through vivid imagery and poignant language, Yeats explores the themes of mortality, art, and the longing for transcendence.

A Journey and the Byzantium

There has been a multiple interpretation of Yeats’ symbols and imageries. Sailing to Byzantium is no exception. It is a journey of metaphysical content and the destination is Byzantium En-route Sea. Byzantium is the excellence of art, glory of self and emblem of beauty. It is a journey for excellence, for supremacy, for artistic exuberance and for self realization of consummate and conscious artist. Byzantium represents a mythical, timeless realm where the spiritual and the artistic thrive. Yeats envisions himself as an aging man, physically decaying and disconnected from the vibrancy of youth. Seeking rejuvenation and immortality, he embarks on a symbolic journey to Byzantium, leaving behind the physical world and its limitations.

Yeats portrays the city of Byzantium as a sanctuary where the wisdom of the ages is preserved. He seeks to merge with the golden mosaics, the statues, and the sages of this mystical city, suggesting a desire to transcend the confines of mortal existence and achieve a state of eternal knowledge and freedom. Through this metaphysical journey, Yeats yearns to transform his own being, shedding his mortal form and embracing a timeless, spiritual existence:

"And therefore I have sailed the seas and come

To the holy city of Byzantium."

Journey of the Soul

A recent study in Yeats has shown that Yeats has had spiritual knowledge of Yoga and Upanishada, particularly of Patranjali’s Yoga Sutra, which was translated into English by Yeats himself in 1936-37. The book contains the journey of soul, rebirth, and doctrine of Samadhi. The poem Sailing to Byzantium is a display of this learning.

Yeats beings his poem by mentioning that life is itself a journey – a soul’s journey through the countries of childhood, youth and old age. His own soul has already journeyed through the countries of sportive childhood and sensual youth. Commenting on the youthful vigour he compares it to a period of procreation and sensual appeal. Under an urge of mating young birds tune in. the soul of fish with their burning  passion of sex, copulate and spawn –

              "The salmon – falls the mackerel – crowed seas,

               Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long

               Whatever is begotten, born, and dies."

The youth is meant for celebration, for emotional attachment, for sensuality and for concern of spring.

But such the country of youth is none a place the old poet – ‘that is no country for old men.’ The youths are caught in the sensual music and totally ignore the ‘monuments of the unageing intellect.’ Thus, the youths do not know the immortality of intellectual supremacy of Yoga, the knowledge of soul which the poet finds a monument. The poet’s old age is weak in physicality, sensuality and rejuvenation and fecundity. He finds himself a scarecrow – ‘a tattered coat upon a sick’, an image of ugliness and decay. He finds none of the songs of his soul. He has thus, voyaged and reached the holy city of Byzantium to record his soul’s content.

The Journey is No Physical rather a Spiritual

Yeats is on his seat to go yogic Samadhi. When a yogi intends to go into Samadhi, he withdraws the power of the senses and centralized them into the mind. Here the powers of senses are compared to ‘sages’ standing in the fire of prana which may be called ‘God’s holy fire.’ The senses are like gold mosaic of a wall. The poet bids them to come back to his mind being in control of the self just as a flying pern comes back to his master after circular flight. If the Samadhi is complete, the yogi learning will consume the material and sensual drawbacks and gradually he should be an artifice of eternity, of self effulgent, of unegoing and perfection –

     Consume my heart away; sick with desire

      ………………………………………….

      ………………… ; and gather me

      Ito the artifice of eternity.

In the concluding stanza the poet wishes to continue his yogic Samadhi. None of the physical approach worldly riches or extra should have an impact on him. On the contrary, he shall mention his Samadhi posture for ever. He shall keep sitting like statue ever made by Greek Goldsmith out of gold and coated with enamel. He should keep his posture intact in order to keep his soul, the Emperor of nature universe, awake to its eternal glory. He wishes to attain an absolute freedom from the sickles of his mind and body through the doctrine of Yoga Sutra. The absolute Samadhi would lead him into samaskaras, knowledge of absolute. He can relate then – ‘of what is past, or passing, or to come.’

Conclusion

In "Sailing to Byzantium," W.B. Yeats encapsulates the universal human longing for transcendence and immortality. Through the metaphor of a voyage to Byzantium, he conveys the inherent tension between the physical world and the realm of the spirit. The poem invites readers to contemplate the nature of existence, the power of art, and the eternal pursuit of wisdom and freedom that resides within the depths of the human soul. Apart from the spiritual analysis the Byzantium can be read as a study of heightened consciousness, an eternity specific to art etc. the awaking or learning of the Emperor of our artistry, spirituality and intellectuality. Sailing to Byzantium is thus rich in complexity, concrete in experimenting, irreducible threads.

Ardhendu De  

References

1. Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/yoga-sutras-of-patanjali

2. Full text of “William Butler Yeats’s Search For A Spiritual Philosophy.” (n.d.). Full Text of “William Butler Yeats’s Search for a Spiritual Philosophy.” https://archive.org/stream/WilliamButlerYeatssSearchForASpiritualPhilosophy/WilliamButlerYeatssSearchForASpiritualPhilosophy_djvu.txt

3. W B Yeats - Collected Poems, 1889-1939 : W B Yeats : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/WBYeats-CollectedPoems1889-1939

4. Text of “Sailing to Byzantium.” https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.36339/2015.36339.Sailing-To-Byzantium_djvu.txt