An analysis of a poem written by W. B. Yeats.

1. WHEN YOU ARE OLD
By
William Butler Yeats
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2. INTRO
Broken
heart
LOVE
Yeats’
personal
experience
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3. ANALYSIS
When You Are Old
by 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.
Source: The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats (1989)
analysis
poetic
devices
theme
point of
view
symbol
tone
style
Click here to listen to the poem!
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4. POETIC DEVICES
Poetic
Devices
rhyme
meter
imagery
repetition
alliteration
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5. RHYME
End Rhyme
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6. METER
This poem uses iambic pentameter.
Iambic, the poem is started by unstressed and followed by stressed, two syllables.
Pentameter, the poem consist of five foots.
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7. REPETITION
The author utilizes the word “and” several times, for instance, in the first stanza. This gives
the stanza a rhythmic beat and structure and extends the pome giving it a feeling of old
age.
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8. ALLITERATION
Alliteration of long sounds, esp. l’s and w’s, in essence to give the poem a very drawn out
and sleepy feel.
Also, the author employs spondaic foot.
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9. STANZAIC FORMS
Quatrain i.e. four lines in each stanza with a rhyme pattern of “a b b a”
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10. IMAGERY
Personification of “love”. It elaborates the themes of romance and loss.
Besides, the capitalization of the word “Love” may entail personification about whom she
loved.
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11. Theme
• Regret
Point of View
• Second person
Tone
• Sad 4/10/2014 11

12. SYMBOL
Words/Phrases
“Gray and old and full of sleep”
“Fire”
“mountains overhead” and “crowd of stars”
Interpretations
An elderly woman
Warmth or comfort and her want for the
fiery love she once rejected
something the elderly woman can always
see and always know is there, but never
fully reach
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13. COMMENT
Distressing ending of this poem suggests
the readers esp. women to reconsider
their future and not to grow old without
anyone by their side.
You won’t notice the real value of the4/10/2014 13