Poems of W.B. Yeats: The Rose Lesson Plan

Why does the speaker want to be a bird in "The White Birds?" What does this seem to indicate about his feelings towards his world?

The speaker wishes that he and his beloved were birds together, floating on the sea. He says that there, "Time would surely forget us, and Sorrow come near us no more." The image of the birds floating around endlessly on the waves is a passive one: birds seem to go wherever the waves take them, and "floating" indicates a lack of trying to go anywhere on their part. The speaker tells his beloved not to think about flower or fire or comets—all of which are things that die or are brilliant for only a moment. There is a sense of peace to the poem...