Based on the stanza given, identify the poem:

The unpurged images of day recede;
The Emperor's drunken soldiery are abed;
Night resonance recedes, night-walkers' song
After great cathedral gong;
A starlit or a moonlit dome disdains
All that man is,
All mere complexities,
The fury and the mire of human veins.

Correct option is D

Explanation:

The stanza provided is an excerpt from the poem Byzantium by William Butler Yeats. The poem evokes an atmosphere of spiritual transcendence and cosmic conflict, contrasting the weary and flawed human world with a higher, almost divine realm. The line "The Emperor's drunken soldiery are abed" refers to the decline of human imperfection, while the "moonlit dome" suggests the elevated, otherworldly setting of Byzantium, with an overwhelming sense of contrast between the earthly and the spiritual. The speaker in the poem seems to long for this higher existence, rejecting the complexities and chaos of human life in favor of an idealized and eternal state.

Information Booster:
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Byzantium is one of W.B. Yeats' most famous poems, first published in 1930. It is part of his later works, which deal with themes of spirituality, death, transcendence, and metaphysical reflection.

• The poem contrasts the flesh-and-blood world of man with the higher, more spiritual world of Byzantium, an ancient city often used by Yeats to symbolize a place of spiritual transcendence and artistic purity.
  
• W.B. Yeats (1865–1939), one of Ireland's foremost literary figures, used the city of Byzantium as a symbol of a utopian spiritual realm, away from the human flaws that he saw in the world around him.
• His later poetry was influenced by Theosophy, and his belief in the spiritual world often manifested in his writings as an aspiration to escape the earthly realm.
  
• In Byzantium, Yeats explores the desire to transcend the frailties and struggles of the material world. The poem uses imagery of an idealized Byzantium to present a vision of a place of spiritual purity, free from human flaws.
• The night is symbolically representative of spiritual ascension, with the dissonance of human life ("the fury and the mire of human veins") giving way to an idealized eternal peace.
• The poem deals with the journey from the imperfections of life to the transcendent perfection.
• Yeats often employed symbolism in his works, layering his poems with complex imagery, mythological references, and mystical symbols.
• His work frequently examines themes of spirituality, suffering, and human mortality, as seen in Byzantium, and draws from a wide range of mythologies and philosophies.
  
  
  

Additional Knowledge:

After a Journey:

• After a Journey is a poem by A.E. Housman. It reflects on the weariness and emotional exhaustion following a journey.
  
  

In a Station of the Metro:

• This poem, written by Ezra Pound, is a modernist piece that employs imagistic poetry. It captures the fleeting, urban experience of the Paris Metro.
  
  

A Shropshire Lad:

• A Shropshire Lad is a well-known collection of poems by A.E. Housman, but it is not related to the themes of Byzantium. Housman’s poems are typically characterized by melancholy, youth, and loss.