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The poem “When You are Old” by William Butler Yeats is written in iambic pentameter, which gives it a very lyrical quality. The first and fourth lines and the second and third lines in each stanza rhyme. After reading the poem, it is clear that the speaker of the poem is the poet himself and he is talking to the woman he loves. He speaking in a future tense and he is directly speaking to her. He solicits her to flash forward to a time when she is old and grey and sitting by the fire. Yeats asks her to take down a book that contains memories and recollections of a woman she once was. This would be a sad, yet depressing moment of time for her. She would be able to remember what her beauty and youth once was, but also become conscious that her beauty has dwindled. She will only be able to dream and read of the “soft look your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep.” This line indicates the bittersweet ending to the course of life. Also, mentioning that the “soft look in her eyes” have lost their “shadows deep” designates that she has not only lost her outer beauty, but has lost her spiritual beauty.
In the second stanza, Yeats mentions that so many men loved her beauty, and her “moments of glad grace.” Although many other men loved her for her beauty, he gets to the core and importance of how he truly feels. He says, “But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
and loved the sorrows of your changing face.” These lines imply that he loved her for who she is deep down, and he will continue to love her even as her looks fade. He uses the term “one man” which makes it clear that he is the only one who ensures continued love towards her forever. “Pilgrim Soul” can imply that he believes they are connected through their souls, and have a very spiritual connection.
Yeats begins the third and final stanza with “bending down beside the glowing bars,” and this signifies that she will no longer stand above the glowing bars into the bright light, but she will crouch beside them with the other women in her position. The next line becomes much more solemn and creates a shift in the poem. He says, “murmur, a little sadly, how love fled,” and this is a powerful statement dictating that she will murmur sadly, because he could’ve been the love of her life. This line indicates unrequited love, but what he says next is of somewhat confidence. He mentions that he will be “pacing upon the mountains overhead.” So while she begins to grow old, he stops going after her and perseveres on the mountains above her. His face will be the one“amid a crowd of stars,” even after her refusal of his genuine love for her.