when you are old

A detailed Summary of when you are old


Analysis of "When You Are Old" by W. B. Yeats

This poem When You Are Old by W. B. Yeats is about Yeats telling his lover how it is going to be when she is old, and he is not around anymore. He is telling her how much he loves her now and how she will think about his love when she is old. She does not say anything although the speaker imagines her saying something in the end of this poem. Yeats wrote this when he was 28, and he talks about what she might be doing, feeling, dreaming when she is old. This poem is very sweet and sad, because he is telling her how he loves her, but at the same time he is not going to be alive when she is old.

Yeats starts out his poem with the setting. In the first four lines, he describes the time, the place where the woman will be, and what she will be doing at that time when she is old. Basically he describes her old age and how she will read her book near the fireplace dreaming about how she was when she was young.

She is "old and grey and full of sleep." "Grey" describes her hair color, and her eyes look "full of sleep" since she is old and has wrinkles around her eyes. She is "nodding by the fire", taking "down this book" that she reads slowly. She is reading a book near the fir


"But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you And loved the sorrows of your changing face." The word "But" tells the reader that Yeats is going to contrast what he wrote before. The word also emphasizes one man's love. Therefore, he is saying that there might be many people who like you when you are young because of your appearance. However, "one man loved the pilgrim soul," and loved her face even though she was getting old. Yeats loves her soul that travels to sacred places. He also loves the sadness of her changing face, as she becomes old. This part is very sweet. The way he writes and the tone of his voice makes it more dramatic and sweet.

Therefore, when she is in the situation that is described in the first four lines of this poem, "how many loved your moments of glad grace, and loved your beauty with love false or true." These are questions that Yeats is asking the woman. When she is old and dreaming about her old memories, how many has loved moments of her grace in her life? Also, how many has loved your beauty, just your appearance whether it has been true or false? Yeats is saying that many people might have loved her appearance when she was young.

In the first fo

Some common words found in the essay are:
Yeats Yeats, Analysis Yeats, loved pilgrim soul, lines yeats describes, appearance loved pilgrim, near fireplace dreaming, book near, book near fireplace, near fireplace, loved pilgrim, pilgrim soul, crowd stars, soul loved, situation described, love fled, sadly love, appearance loved,

Approximate Word count = 805
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

join now Save Paper

Related Essays

  • A Life You Love ... In years to come when you are old and gray, I know you will think of my gift to you, I know I will be totally revered by you both and that is my dream come true ... 885 words
  • Old but Modern ... In fact it is so modern that you can hardly tell it was written well over one hundred years ago. It does have an oldfashioned, classic feel to it, but it is ... 946 words
  • King Lear 4 ... pointing to his wounded heart, he increasingly gains sympathy from the reader, while malicious Regan adds to his suffering, ampquotO, Sir you are old...You should be ... 1380 words
  • 16 year old killed by gov ... points toward seventeen year old John Lee Malvo and forty one year old John Allen ... By the time you are seventeen, you should be able to tell the difference ... 760 words
  • You Cannot Escape Your Past, Your Familyamp39s Past, or Your Countryamp39s ... However, the Texas border down is not a ghost town in the traditional Old West sense of an empty place, rather it is a place that is, if anything, too densely ... 683 words

Professional Essays

  • Symbolism in Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea ... You have only yourselfampquot Hemingway, 18. ... On the day that the old man will encounter the big fish he tells Manolin ampquotI feel confident todayampquot Hemingway, 10. ... 797 words
  • The Old Man and the Sea ... Santiago is an old man, and Hemingway was getting old when he wrote The Old Man and the Sea. ... ampquotFish,ampquot he said softly, aloud, ampquotIamp39ll stay with you until I am dead ... 1985 words
  • The Heroic Ideal: Plato and Socrates ... Socrates explains his goal is selfless if purposeful, ampquotI do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons ... 1285 words
  • Letter on Community of Faith ... 183. And in any case it will fall to you to manage the old men and the women who will be working the land on the estate. First ... 1588 words
  • Biblical prophecy in the Old Testament ... Other Old Testament prophets focus more intently on prophecy as ministry, such that ministry ... The more you do the former, the argument goes, the less you get of ... 1042 words
  • Lessons in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho One of his first lessons came when talking to the old man, who told him, ampquotwhen you really want something, itamp39s because that desire originated in the soul of ... 552 words


Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.
Home Join Now Support
Acceptable Use Policy About us FAQ
All papers are for research and reference purposes only!
© 2002-2009 DirectEssays.com. All Rights Reserved.