of Analysis the Poem When you are Old
This poem was written by William Butler Yeats. He wrote the poem in order to
express his love to a beautiful lady named Maud Conne. Yeats loved her when met her
the first time, but Conne refused his courtships and married McBride, which made
Yeats cant do anything but write poem to express his love.
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.
Poet assumed when Conne was old, and her beauty and youth had gone away.
He wished conne would read his poems and know how beautiful she has been. There
are some depressions in these words. Although Yeats did want to see this scene, the
day will come sooner or later.
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.
Poet wrote about the past time. There were many so people loved Conne. Now,
she was old and grey. Those people who just loved her youth and beauty had gone
away. But the poet didnt care how old she is and how her face changed. The poet
expressed his deeply love to conne. He thought he will love coone forever. This words
is the center of the whole poem, it is very wonderful. Let me cant forget it when read
it the first time.
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled
And paced upon the mountains over head
And hid his face amid a crow of stars.
The last part of poem is very hard to understand, but it is the sublimation of the
whole poem. It didnt mention poet himself, but between these sad words, we could
imagine that Yeats would be more painful than conne. He said that love is not fled; it
was hidden in the mountains over head, and hid between the stars.
After reading the poem we can understand the meaning of true love. The great
love is not possession. Love is blessing, waiting and accompany.