Reeder 1

“When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats

One of the more remarkable aspects of Yeats’ poem, When You Are Old, is how the poet
is present throughout the verses without actually appearing in them. Another interesting
aspect is how, through the use of punctuation and alliteration, Yeats slows down the
tempo of the iambic pentameter so the reader can actually feel the addressee’s age. The
poem is narrated by one who has loved a beautiful woman; presumably, in this case, the
addressee is Yeats’ own denied love, Maud Gonne. I will examine each of the stanzas to
demonstrate that Yeats has interjected himself into this poem by the use of allusion and
connotative diction without having to use the first person singular.

The first stanza introduces the reader to the subject and the first line sets the
tempo for the rest of the poem. In addition to his use of commas, Yeats utilizes the word
and six times in this section, which slows the pace:
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; if he had written: “When you are old,
grey, full of sleep nodding by the fire…” the pace would have been quicker and would
not impart the feeling of age and melancholy he is obviously trying to convey. The terms
slowly read, “dream,” “soft look,” and “shadows deep” denote an impression of other-
worldliness, a period between waking and deep sleep when time is no longer relative and
memories hover around the edge of darkness. In addition, the sibilant sounds of “sleep,”
“slowly,” “soft,” and “shadows” imparts a sense of somnolence. The poet contrasts this
dark opening with the next stanza:
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;
Here Yeats uses a form of the word “love” five times to brighten the tone, especially in
the first two lines. The tempo is still slow, but the ten syllables of the iambic pentameter
seem more uplifting and almost reverential as he focuses on the “glad grace” and
“beauty” of the subject. It is the last two lines, however, that the reader discovers the
relationship the author has with the subject.
With a tone of yearning, the narrator announces that he is the one man who not
only recognized the physical charms of this woman, but also loved her intrinsic nature,
her “Pilgrim soul.” This reference also conveys a feeling of otherworldliness as we
associate the word “Pilgrim” with someone who journeys afar, a non-conformist or free-
spirit who is perhaps seeking a sacred place of devotion. These lines also convey the
feeling of reverence the poet has for this woman. She is his ideal. Yeats never uses the
first person singular here. He avoids saying “I loved your Pilgrim soul and sorrows of
your changing face.” He creates a distance between himself and his muse and retains an
anonymity among her other worshippers, which he confirms in the final quatrain.
Having interjected this brighter tone, Yeats returns the reader to the melancholy, but this
time with a spark:
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
 Reeder 2

Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled

And paced upon the mountain overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars
In this stanza, the woman is earth-bound as we see her bending down by the warmth of
the fire; she is no longer the ethereal image of the second quatrain. Here, the poet does
not unleash a flurry of bitter recriminations at her because of his unrequited love, but,
instead, offers a self-effacing declaration of his devotion.
A wistful tone is implied as the reader pictures the woman sadly acknowledging the loss
of her adoring poet, possibly her one true “Love.” Through the use of the capital “L” in
“love,” Yeats has once again injected himself in the poem without the use of the word
“I.” He is speaking directly to her as he paces overhead. Peering down from his lofty, but
solitary, height, he wants her to look up from the glowing bars of an artificial flame to
find him shining brightly among the stars.
The poem, “When You Are Old” appears to be a simple love poem on first
reading. After careful analysis, however, we realize that Yeats has created a small
autobiography without ever using the first person singular. Through word choice and
strategic punctuation and alliteration he has slowed down the tempo of the iambic
pentameter to impart an aura of melancholy and desire to describe his love of a once
beautiful woman for whom, despite her advancing age, he still yearns.