| This poem makes a bit more sense than its predesecor, Byzantium. From the poem, the overall theme appears to be that man needs to hey to the land of Byzantium which is representative of the knowledge that we can attain, left by past generations. Yeats begins by clarifying that humans are really just animals, equal to birds and fish. Though one cannot separate themself totally form their animal body, they can come very close. We are told that to do this we must pursue not only music but the history left behind for us. By studying these 'monuments' we are getting in a ship and beginning the long trip to knowledge and Byzantium. The only way to truly get there is to go beyond the studying, one must also 'sing' the music loud enough for all the other little animals of out species to hear and begin to take the journey themselves. Knowledge must be sought for what it is as well, not just as a means to better ones self necessarily. It must be looked upon as magnificent onits own. You must burn from inside with the disire to learn and find out about all the fascinating parts of the world. It is this 'fire' inside that is spoken of in the third stanza I do believe. As to the form that the speaker makes reference to, I really have not learned much about Grecian goldsmiths, but it sounds as it they write the knowledge of the age on artifacts to put in the tombs of the dead to keep them awake. |