Book 1, The Complete William Butler Yeats : Chapter 5, Sailing to Byzantium Summary

The author has used more than one meter in the execution of this poem. Here, execution simply means 'to carry out.' Yeats wrote 17 stanzas all as a part of this poem. The Irish poetic genius has used trimeter, quieter and even pentameter lines in the poem. This adds to the complexity of the overall form. The inexperienced may not recognize this for what it is. To those who have had no formal training in poetry, they may only notice that it sounds good. Those who know better will be able to discern one aspect of the poem from another. The stanzas are internally consistent with respect to both rhyme and meter. The differences occur in parts of the poem. The Tower begins with four...