When You Are OldBy 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,

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

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Comment

I chose this poem, because I'm always thinking that I don't want to be old. When I saw this title, I thought that this is about life of old people, and it makes me not afraid to be old. But this poem was different than what I thought. I still don't get clearly what is this poem wants to tell us. I think he has a little negative thinking, he seems sad. So I think that this poem wants to tell us to be happy. Do not care about what sad thing happened and find something new.

My Favorite Lines

And loved your beauty with love false or true,


Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled


I like these two lines, because I can see that he loved her so much.




And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.


I feel that he is relaxed, and the time goes slowly. I know that he lost his lover once, but I think he has a nice slow life now.