Question

Choose the word or phrase that best defines the italicized word. “An aged man is but a paltry thing,/ a tattered coat upon a stick

Answer 1

This excerpt is from the poem, 'Sailing to Byzantium' by William Butler Yeats

Explanation:

• The line "aged man is but a paltry thing, / a tattered coat upon a stick refers to an old man's soul.

• The poet says the country he had left was a country of youth and so he has moved to the holy city of Byzantium. He calls the saints as masters and asks them to be his soul's singing masters.

• He says his heart is a stick with desire and it is attached to a dying animal. Yeats speaks about the agony of old age.