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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, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your ...
1939. 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,
- Summary
- Meaning
- Structure
- Literary Devices
- Themes
- Historical Context
- Similar Poetry
‘When You Are Old’ reveals that the speakerviewed himself as a true lover, desperately hoping that his beloved might look into her future and imagine herself old and regretting having never returned his love. Many see this poem as highlighting the unrequited love between the speaker, presumably Yeats, and his former lover. In this poem, the speaker...
To gather the full meaning of ‘When You Are Old’, a reader must understand the love life of Yeats. For many years, he was in love with a beautiful actress, Maud Gonne. Gonne would not (or could not) return his love. This was a bitter rejection for Yeats, whose heart was set on her. This poem is addressed to her. Here, Yeats specifically refers to h...
The poem consists of three stanzas, each containing four lines. The rhyme scheme is very distinct and steady; the first stanza is abba; the second is cddc; the third is effe. Yeats uses this closed rhyming pattern to emphasize the idea of each stanza. Additionally, there are a total of ten syllables in each line. The stress falls on the second syll...
While the work is relatively short, like any Yeats poem, it is jam-packed with imagery and other poetic devices. The poem begins with a metonymy. One can find this device in the usage of the word “grey”. The second and third lines of the first stanza contain anaphora. Moreover, there is a repetition of “and” in this section. In “Moments of glad gra...
This poem reveals several themes, such as the reality of passing time, the brevity of life, and the importance of love. The most important theme of ‘When You Are Old’is the passing of time. This theme of transience forms the basis of this poem. Here, the poet highlights the fact that one’s youthful hours fade away with time. Time neither stops nor ...
W.B. Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland, and is one of the most celebrated poets in Irish history. Many of Yeats’ poemsreflect the Irish spirit, but this poem concentrates more on the love he once shared with a woman. This woman is probably Maud Gonne, an Irish revolutionary who ended up marrying another man. Yeats himself would go on to marry her. ...
Here is a list of a few poems that are similar to the themes and subject matter of W.B. Yeats’ poem, ‘When You Are Old.’ 1. Song: When I am dead, my dearest by Christina Rossetti – This poem delves deep into emotion and feeling that lies far beyond what the words can express. It’s one of Christina’s well-known poems. 2. Dejection: An Ode by Samuel ...
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- Poetry Analyst
Learn More. "When You Are Old" is a poem by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats. In the poem, which is published in Yeats's second collection, The Rose (1893), the speaker asks someone to think ahead to old age, strongly suggesting that the addressee will eventually regret being unwilling to return the speaker's love.
May 11, 2020 · In summary, ‘When You Are Old’ is a lyric poem in which Yeats – or, perhaps more accurately, the speaker of the poem, who could or could not be Yeats himself – addresses a woman he loves. He asks her to return to the poem he has written for her when she is old and grey and tired, and to use the speaker’s poem as a way of remembering ...
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About. Composed in 1892, “When You Are Old” is a very loose adaptation of a Petrarchan sonnet by Ronsard (“Quand vous serez bien vieille”). Yeats turns the poem from a sonnet into a ...
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