When You Are
Old by William Butler Yeats
👨🎓 About the Poet
– W. B. Yeats (1865–1939)
- Full name: William
Butler Yeats
- Nationality: Irish
- Occupation: Poet,
playwright, politician
- Nobel
Prize: 1923 for Literature
- Literary
Movement: Irish Literary Revival, Symbolism
- Famous
Works: The Lake Isle of Innisfree, The
Second Coming, Sailing to Byzantium, A Prayer for My
Daughter
- Style: Rich in
symbolism, mysticism, and lyrical beauty
- Major
Influence: His unrequited love for Maud Gonne
inspired many of his romantic poems.
📝 Poem: When You
Are Old
Poet: William Butler
Yeats
Written in: 1891
Collection: The Rose (1893)
Inspired by: Yeats’s unrequited love for Maud Gonne, an Irish
revolutionary and actress.
🌸 Text of the
Poem
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.
🌼 Summary
The poem is
addressed to the poet’s beloved, asking her to imagine herself when she grows
old and grey. Sitting by the fire, she will read this poem and remember her
youth — the beauty and charm that once captivated many men.
However, only one man (the poet himself) loved her deeply, not just for her
beauty but for her “pilgrim soul” — her inner spirit and emotional
depth.
At the end, the poet imagines that Love, rejected and unreturned, flies
away to the mountains and hides among the stars, symbolizing eternal yet
distant love.
💬 Paraphrase
(Stanza-wise)
Stanza
1:
When you are
old, with grey hair and sleepy eyes, sitting by the fire, pick up this book and
read it slowly. Remember the beauty of your eyes and their depth when you were
young.
Stanza
2:
Many people
loved you for your youthful beauty, some truly and some falsely. But only one
man (the poet) loved you for your soul — for who you were inside — and even
loved you as you grew old and sorrowful.
Stanza
3:
When you
remember this, you’ll feel sad and think of how Love itself left and went up
into the mountains, hiding among the stars — far away but immortal.
🎭 Themes
- Love and
Time:
The poem explores how beauty fades with time but true love endures beyond physical appearance. - Unrequited
Love:
Yeats expresses his sorrow for his love that was never returned by Maud Gonne. - Mortality
and Aging:
The poem reflects on the inevitability of aging and the passage of youth. - Spiritual
vs. Physical Love:
The contrast between those who loved her beauty and Yeats’s love for her soul. - Regret and
Reflection:
The beloved’s future regret is implied — that she will realize too late who truly loved her.
✨ Literary Devices
|
Device |
Example |
Effect |
|
Imagery |
“Grey and
full of sleep,” “glowing bars,” “crowd of stars” |
Creates vivid
pictures appealing to senses |
|
Metaphor |
“Pilgrim
soul” |
Symbolizes
the beloved’s spiritual journey |
|
Personification |
“Love fled
and paced upon the mountains” |
Makes love
seem alive and emotional |
|
Alliteration |
“Loved the
pilgrim soul in you” |
Adds musical
rhythm |
|
Symbolism |
“Mountains”
and “stars” |
Represent
distance and eternity |
|
Tone |
Nostalgic,
tender, sorrowful |
Conveys emotional
depth and longing |
🧩 Meaning of
Difficult Words
|
Word |
Meaning |
|
Grey |
Having grey
hair, old age |
|
Full of sleep |
Drowsy or
near the end of life |
|
Grace |
Beauty, charm |
|
Pilgrim soul |
The
spiritual, inner self that continues to search |
|
Glowing bars |
The fire
grate or burning coals |
|
Fled |
Ran away,
escaped |
|
Paced |
Walked slowly |
|
Amid |
Among |
|
Crowd of
stars |
The
star-filled sky, symbol of eternity |
📚 Analysis
“When You Are
Old” is both personal and universal. Yeats transforms his unreciprocated love
into timeless poetry. The poem’s tone of tender melancholy captures the pain of
love that goes unreturned yet remains pure. The imagery of old age, firelight,
and stars creates a mood of calm reflection and deep emotion.
🏆 Important
Exam Questions and Answers
Q 1.
What is the central idea of the poem “When You Are Old”?
Ans:
The poem reflects on the passage of time and the difference between physical
beauty and spiritual love. Yeats tells his
beloved that when she becomes old, she will realize that only one man loved her
inner soul, while others loved her for her youth and beauty. The poem
highlights the permanence of true love versus the transience of physical charm.
Q 2. Who
is the speaker addressing in the poem and why?
Ans:
The speaker addresses his beloved, generally believed to be Maud
Gonne. He asks her to imagine her old age when she will read
this poem and remember his deep, sincere love for her,
realizing that she rejected a love that was pure and spiritual.
Q 3.
What does Yeats mean by “pilgrim soul”?
Ans:
The phrase “pilgrim soul” refers to the
beloved’s inner, ever-searching spirit—her
true self beyond outer beauty. Yeats loved her for this spiritual essence
rather than for her physical appearance.
Q 4. How
does Yeats contrast true and false love in the poem?
Ans:
Yeats says many loved her beauty, but
their love was shallow and temporary. Only one man (the poet himself)
loved her soul and even her sorrowful,
aging face. This contrast shows the difference between surface
attraction and deep emotional devotion.
Q 5.
Explain the line “Love fled and paced upon the mountains overhead and hid his
face amid a crowd of stars.”
Ans:
This line personifies Love as a living being who,
after being rejected, withdraws to the mountains and hides among the stars. It
symbolizes eternal yet unreachable love—pure,
divine, and immortal, even though it cannot be fulfilled on earth.
Q 6.
What is the mood and tone of the poem?
Ans:
The mood
is reflective
and nostalgic, while the tone is tender,
sorrowful, and full of longing. Yeats expresses both love and
quiet sadness as he foresees the beloved’s future regret.
Q 7.
What imagery has Yeats used in the poem?
Ans:
Yeats employs visual imagery—“grey and full
of sleep,” “glowing bars,” “crowd of stars”—to portray old age,
warmth
of the fire, and eternal love. These images
appeal to the senses and add emotional depth.
Q 8. Why
does the poet ask his beloved to take down the book in her old age?
Ans:
He wants her to remember her youthful days and
realize that while many admired her beauty, only he truly
loved her soul. It is a gentle reminder of true
love that she failed to value.
Q 9.
What kind of love does the poet believe in?
Ans:
Yeats believes in spiritual and eternal love—love
that values the soul rather than outward beauty. It is selfless,
faithful, and transcendent, surviving even after rejection and
aging.
Q 10.
What is the significance of the title “When You Are Old”?
Ans:
The title directly addresses the theme of aging and reflection.
It sets the time frame of the poem—when the beloved grows old and realizes what
true love meant. It also gives the poem a prophetic and emotional tone.
Q 11.
What emotions does Yeats convey in the poem?
Ans:
Yeats conveys love, sadness,
regret,
and acceptance.
He loves deeply but also accepts that his love remains unreturned. His emotions
are gentle and sincere, not bitter.
Q 12.
How does the poem show the passage of time?
Ans:
The poem moves from youthful beauty (“moments of
glad grace”) to old age (“grey and full of
sleep”), showing how beauty fades while true love endures. It highlights life’s
inevitable aging process.
Q 13.
What is the form and rhyme scheme of the poem?
Ans:
The poem is a three-stanza lyric with four
lines in each stanza (a quatrain).
The rhyme
scheme is ABBA CDDC EFFE, which gives it
a musical and reflective rhythm.
Q 14.
What message does Yeats want to convey through this poem?
Ans:
Yeats wants to convey that true love is not based on physical
beauty but on inner purity and spiritual connection.
He suggests that one should value genuine affection before it is too late.
Q 15.
What does the fire symbolize in the poem?
Ans:
The fire
symbolizes warmth, life, and memory. When
the woman sits “by the fire,” it suggests the end of life and a moment of
reflection on the past and lost love.
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