When You Are Old
Amanda Jessen
Professor: Jason Meier
English 1118-54 Online
19 October 2014
Explication of “When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace, 5
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled 10
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
While the poem, “When You Are Old,” written by William Butler Yeats was written in 1893, the same themes of love, regret, longing, are still very much a part of today’s world. Sometimes you have to love someone from afar and other times you only realize that you had true love when it’s too late. This could be because when you are together you are toxic for one another or if you get to close and love them you will just end up hurt. It is known that he proposed many times to Maud Gonne but was rejected each time. He also proposed to her daughter who also rejected him. A person can only take so much rejection and I believe this is the way Yeats shows he is tired of being rejected. In this poem he is addressing Maud, who he is in love with, saying that when she is aged she should read a particular book which will remind her of her youth. She will remember the people who had loved her grace and her beauty with either real or fake sentiments in the past, and also that one man, Yeats himself, who had loved her soul unconditionally as she grows old and the way her looks changed. As she is reminded of him, she will regret her missed opportunity of true love. “When you are old, and gray and full of sleep,” (1) is the
Professor: Jason Meier
English 1118-54 Online
19 October 2014
Explication of “When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace, 5
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled 10
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
While the poem, “When You Are Old,” written by William Butler Yeats was written in 1893, the same themes of love, regret, longing, are still very much a part of today’s world. Sometimes you have to love someone from afar and other times you only realize that you had true love when it’s too late. This could be because when you are together you are toxic for one another or if you get to close and love them you will just end up hurt. It is known that he proposed many times to Maud Gonne but was rejected each time. He also proposed to her daughter who also rejected him. A person can only take so much rejection and I believe this is the way Yeats shows he is tired of being rejected. In this poem he is addressing Maud, who he is in love with, saying that when she is aged she should read a particular book which will remind her of her youth. She will remember the people who had loved her grace and her beauty with either real or fake sentiments in the past, and also that one man, Yeats himself, who had loved her soul unconditionally as she grows old and the way her looks changed. As she is reminded of him, she will regret her missed opportunity of true love. “When you are old, and gray and full of sleep,” (1) is the
Cited: Yeats, William Butler. “When You Are Old.” Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 4th ed. Eds. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Longman, 2012: 651. Print.