William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) is one of the greatest of all Irish poets. His first collection, Crossways, was published in 1889 when he was still in his mid-twenties, and his early poetry was clearly influenced by Romanticism. As his career developed and literary innovations came with modernism in the early decades of the twentieth century, Yeats’s work retained its focus on traditional verse forms and rhyme schemes, but he became more political and realistic.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
When You Are Old is a poem by Yeats.
The poem was published in Yeats's second collection, The Rose (1893). In the poem, the narrator makes us think ahead to old age. He strongly suggests that the addressee will soon regret being unwilling to return the speaker's love. The tone here is of one lover requesting, literally pleading and alternately warning the addresse of his love not being responded to. Most critics agree that the poem is about Yeats's relationship with Maud Gonne, an Irish actress and nationalist. Though the poem is known to be based on a much earlier sonnet by Pierre de Ronsard, a 16th century French Renaissance poet.
'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'
Themes
Love and Beauty
“When You Are Old” is a bittersweet poem that reveals the complexities of love. The poem argues in favour of a kind of love based not on physical appearances—which fade over time—but on the inner beauty of the soul.
The speaker contrasts his own love for the addressee with the inferior love described above. The speaker’s love, the poem argues, will stand the test of time because it is based on the addressee’s “pilgrim soul” and the “sorrows” of her “changing face.” That is, the speaker perceives an inner restlessness of this woman's soul and implies that this will express itself in her “changing face” as she grows old. The speaker, then, claims to experience love that goes beyond the surface—the addressee's face may change over time, but the "soul" that the speaker loves will not.
Aging
The poem talks about age as not just a number but also a timeline for the future of his affection. He feels that together, as a couple, they both do not have enough time to make memories.
When You Are Old is a poem by Yeats.
The poem was published in Yeats's second collection, The Rose (1893). In the poem, the narrator makes us think ahead to old age. He strongly suggests that the addressee will soon regret being unwilling to return the speaker's love. The tone here is of one lover requesting, literally pleading and alternately warning the addresse of his love not being responded to. Most critics agree that the poem is about Yeats's relationship with Maud Gonne, an Irish actress and nationalist. Though the poem is known to be based on a much earlier sonnet by Pierre de Ronsard, a 16th century French Renaissance poet.
'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'
Themes
Love and Beauty
“When You Are Old” is a bittersweet poem that reveals the complexities of love. The poem argues in favour of a kind of love based not on physical appearances—which fade over time—but on the inner beauty of the soul.
The speaker contrasts his own love for the addressee with the inferior love described above. The speaker’s love, the poem argues, will stand the test of time because it is based on the addressee’s “pilgrim soul” and the “sorrows” of her “changing face.” That is, the speaker perceives an inner restlessness of this woman's soul and implies that this will express itself in her “changing face” as she grows old. The speaker, then, claims to experience love that goes beyond the surface—the addressee's face may change over time, but the "soul" that the speaker loves will not.
Aging
The poem talks about age as not just a number but also a timeline for the future of his affection. He feels that together, as a couple, they both do not have enough time to make memories.
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