Both poems deal with themes about mortality. In the poem "Sailing to Byzantium" the narrator is seeking a way of eternity. He doesn't want to be forgotten after his death. While telling about these themes, the poem gives lots of images of nature and life. "Birds in the trees", "dying salmons in the sea", "sensual music", "monuments", and even "Byzantium" are all imagery details that develop the theme by making the poem deeper, and more understandable because of the visual picture it creates. In the second poem, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" there is a mythological story behind it. There is an urn who is somehow greater than every human being. It is eternal. The narrator criticizes this, saying: "When old age shall this generation waste / Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe." The imagery details "pipes", "timbrels", "Tempe", "Dales of Arcady" develop the mythological context described in the poem.
Two poems have different uses of imagery. I liked the imagery in "Sailing to Byzantium" more than the imagery in the other one. First of all the images and symbols in the first poem are clearer and easier to understand. But in the second poem, although I understand how the atmosphere generally is, the imagery details are hard to understand. I am able to see the imagery, but it is hard to tell what they really mean. I think, imagery in the first poem are more vivid. I especially liked the poet using the imagery detail "sailing to Byzantium", where he described Istanbul as a eternal city because of the many monuments it has. Monument is also a imagery detail in the poem, which is a symbol of eternity since it never dies.
Two poems have different uses of imagery. I liked the imagery in "Sailing to Byzantium" more than the imagery in the other one. First of all the images and symbols in the first poem are clearer and easier to understand. But in the second poem, although I understand how the atmosphere generally is, the imagery details are hard to understand. I am able to see the imagery, but it is hard to tell what they really mean. I think, imagery in the first poem are more vivid. I especially liked the poet using the imagery detail "sailing to Byzantium", where he described Istanbul as a eternal city because of the many monuments it has. Monument is also a imagery detail in the poem, which is a symbol of eternity since it never dies.