Sailing To Byzantium
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- čas přidán 27. 02. 2021
- IIn this episode I read a favourite Yeats poem, tell you something of my debt to him and finish with a poem of my own.
As always, if you'd like to encourage and support me in making these little films you can but me a coffee from this page but not every time of course, and no obligation:
www.buymeacoffee.com/malcolmg...
And now here are the texts of the Yeats poem, and my own 'Dancing Through the Fire
Sailing to Byzantium WB Yeats
I
That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees,
-Those dying generations-at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.
II
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
III
O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.
IV
Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.
W. B. Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium” from The Poems of W. B. Yeats: A New Edition, edited by Richard J. Finneran. Copyright 1933 by Macmillan Publishing Company, renewed © 1961 by Georgie Yeats. Reprinted with the permission of A. P. Watt, Ltd. on behalf of Michael Yeats.
Dancing through the Fire Malcolm Guite
Then stir my love in idleness to flame
To find at last the free refining fire
That guards the hidden garden whence I came.
O do not kill, but quicken my desire
Better to spur me on than leave me cold.
Not maimed I come to you, I come entire
Lit by the loves that warm, the lusts that scald
That you may prove the one, reprove the other,
Though both have been the strength by which I scaled
The steps so far to come where poets gather
And sing such songs as love gives them to sing.
I thank God for the ones who brought me hither
And taught me by example how to bring
The slow growth of a poem to fruition
And let it be itself, a living thing,
Taught me to trust the gifts of intuition
And still to try the tautness of each line,
Taught me to taste the grace of transformation
And trace in dust the face of the Divine,
Taught me the truth, as poet and as Christian ,
That drawing water turns it into wine.
Now I am drawn through their imagination
To dare to dance with them into the fire,
Harder than any grand renunciation,
To bring to Christ the heart of my desire
Just as it is in every imperfection
Surrendered to his sharp refiners fire
That love might have Its death and resurrection.
From The Singing Bowl Canterbury Press 2013
"drawing water turns it into wine" what a great line!!!
Thanks!
Reading that poem always makes me weep. It's affect on me becomes more powerful as I grow older.
I "Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light"
Thank you, Malcolm, for sharing your gifts of passion and of knowledge, to teach us, if not to sing, at least to hear the song.
I'm not quite sure how I've ended up here, but thank you so much. I thoroughly enjoyed these 17 minutes, and am delighted to see you have an impressive amount of videos uploaded here. Lucky me that I get to learn more about poetry now, with you :)
Thank you too for your own poem. I just typed in ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ to see whether I could find someone to help me understand better this poem, which already resonated with me like so much of Yeats’ poetry despite my incomplete understanding. - And I found your wonderful video, together with your own beautiful poem - homage at the end. The whole thing has been quite moving for me. Thank you.
Absolutely beautiful
The Homer of Ireland... perfect in both stage and verse. Great vid' Malcolm.
God bless
It's the love for guitars that keep me going, thank you for your fantastic videos Sir... Your wisdom is impeccable!
Thank you so much for this. You really enrich my experience of this wonderful poem
You are a blessing! Thanks for all you share.
I only just found this, wonderful to hear.
Welcome aboard!
Thank you for your continued inspiration Mr. Guite.
Thank You Malcolm for this.
Beautifully read. You see into the soul of the poem.
I revisited this video after your more recent ‘Sailing FROM Byzantium’ video. Thanks again.
Sometimes it takes a poet to explain a poet who has delved the depths of the human condition and returned to inform us we are not alone.
Yes sometimes a metaphor can be lost to me, requiring further reading. Maybe that's what poetry should be, something thaat needs to be read more than once, or heard through another focus to understand it well.
indeed it is
@Remy Jeffrey I doubt whether anyone does care.
Your videos are true gifts thank you Malcolm :)
Glad you like them!
Thanks Malcom, I’ll keep you in prayer! My introduction to Yeats was from the Waterboys, Stolen Child. At 55 now, I appreciate more and more the wonder of aging.
Reduced to tears. Thank you.
thanks!
Wonderfully done.
Both poems resonate deeply. Thank you for sharing so much with us.
Thanks for listening
I am truly grateful to have discovered a singing school master such as you. Thank you for the connections and kind sharing of these transcendent poems.
thanks you, I am honoured
Just a lovely way to spend seventeen minutes. Thank you, Malcolm.
Thanks for listening
Was just reading a book on Byzantium! Thought this was great, will have to look into this Yeats character now. Thanks, keep it up my good sir.
Glad it was helpful!
Holy fire 🔥 Delightful reading to listen to while lounging in bed in a rainy day. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the sages.
Thanks for listening
Dancing through the fire. Thank you for sharing singing lessons. For me I shall listen to some favs today and sing along! Blessings to you!
You are so welcome!
Thank you so much this was wonderful, more of this please.I live in Byzantium, up a mountain overlooking the Mediterranean and a Roman/Persian/Byzantine castle so not many book shops around here and the access that CZcams gives me is much treasured especially inspired readings and lectures of poetry.
wow, what a place to live!
I have to say that was spellbinding...just wonderful...
thanks
Wow
So enjoying your videos.
Thanks so much!
[...] I thank God for the ones who brought me hither
And taught me by example how to bring
The slow growth of a poem to fruition
And let it be itself, a living thing,
Taught me to trust the gifts of intuition
And still to try the tautness of each line,
Taught me to taste the grace of transformation...
I thank you, Malcolm!
Could you believe I was just thinking of this wonderful piece of art by Yeats and 'then your video 'came' to me.
ah synchronicity!
We have very similar interests in books....
I've always loved "Sailing to Byzantium." It reminds me a good deal of Tennyson's "Ulysses." Also, Ray Bradbury, in his marvelous fictional memoir of childhood, 'Dandelion Wine,' gives Yeats' poem a very nice tribute in the Introduction to his book. Bradbury includes a wonderful poem he wrote, called "Just This Side of Byzantium," in which he compares the town of his childhood to Byzantium. He fills his poem with allusions to classical (Greek) mythology, and mentions Yeats twice (in case we missed the debt). It's a terrific poem; I memorized it, and recite it to myself quite often. Thank you for the wonderful video.
thanks for those fascinating links and echoes
@@MalcolmGuitespell My pleasure, sir.
Dear Padre, thank you for another fascinating story. "Nor is there singing school but studying ..." - I try to do it in order to "not get lost". I try to hold on as an art historian and as a beginner sailer (in my 50s.:) We are still masters of our fate. We still are captains of our souls! I’m trying to be.
Wonderful!
your videos are wonderful. thank you and I am also learning about your writing and other books you are speaking about. I am ordering le morte darthur from your review. stay well ! those bent apple Petersons are very nice as well
Glad you like them!
Many a rhyme, bound beautifully in time .Offering the splender of words and texts , putting imagination of mind to rest . Tales of woe from many a page may flow . Tales of happiness certain to alleviate the depths of stress. Phrases, captions some less obvious later jogged by memory by thought we later concede. Travel these wonderful words , chapters , take a mindful stroll through these words to fill ones soul .
thanks for this poetic response!
@@MalcolmGuitespell Your most welcome Sir, i did perhaps wonder if it wouldnt be appropriate as a comment ..but thankyou, im just learining poetry and indeed writting..your response means rather alot.
Here's a passage from Guy Gavriel Kay's Sailing to Sarantium. The first novel in The Sarantine Mosiac duology.
"To say of a man that he was sailing to Sarantium was to say that his life was on the cusp of change: poised for emergent greatness, brilliance, fortune-or else at the very precipice of a final and absolute fall as he met something too vast for his capacity"
I just bought a SIGNED copy of Yeats. I still can't believe it.
wow!!
Anyone feeling a bit old and isolated? A hollow soul in a hollow world? Let W. B. Yeats and my brother Malcom be your teachers. A free class in The Singing School.
thanks Reid!
Fab as always! Could you recommend a commentary and a good translation for Dante please. Happy piping!
Hi, I think both dorothy Sayers and Robin Kirkpatrick's translations are good
Some beautiful readings here Malcolm, of course Yeats, but also your own poem. I wonder if this singing school is anywhere near the tower of song?
ah yes, it is indeed the tower of song, and these other poets are, like Hank Williams, a hundred floors above me....
May I ask about the beautiful poker (or cherrywood) shape pipe right next to you? Might be a Rattray's pipe or does Peterson's also have one in such a shape? - Also allow me to say: I am glad I found your videos. I really enjoyed your song "Hold on" and I am both a fan of English literature and pipe smoking. I'd love to hear more about the kind of tobaccos you enjoy, if you don't mind sharing. Kind regards from Germany!
thanks, I think the one you're looking at os a Rattray's Glory Day! For A Mild Smoke I'm enjoying Kendall Black cherry' and for something fuller, Peterson's deluxe Navy Rolls, and occasionally Mclellands Bombay extra
Sorry you are feeling tattered; don't know if you would normally be having lots of live seminars, but these library sessions and other talks may seem like skim milk to you compared to live discussions. Spring is coming, sir! I had the mourning doves outside accompanying this reading, and they said so. Thanks for your own fires.
Thanks, yes I would normally be doing some in person teaching and lecturing which I miss
Sir plz poem on Second coming
yes I'll do that one some time
Speaking of matters Byzantine and British...
Have you read any Doctor Julian Joseph Overbeck?
anglicanhistory.org/orthodoxy/abramtsov.pdf
I’m curious about how you might regard this remarkable sideways rebel.
interesting. I didn't know about that at all