more on the last post

Now I'm not going to delve into psychology here, but considering that most of the book is about aging and sex is also a recurring topic, I wonder why Yeats found sex important to include. Perhaps he saw it as a way to return back to some amount of youthfulness? But then what is ironic is that in "Sailing to Byzantium," the speaker complains that people "caught in that sensual music all neglect monuments of unaging intellect." He seems to look down on "that sensual music" and would rather a return to reason and intellect.

Later, the speaker pleads with the gods to "consume my heart away; sick with desire"

This is one conflicted speaker! He criticizes those indulging in pleasures of the flesh and only two stanzas later says that his own heart is lustful and "sick with desire." This shows the insecurities of the speaker, who is obviously an old man. He feels that he has no place or purpose on the Earth anymore, no reason for living, yet must live with the conflicts between his intellectual mind and still-lustful heart.