When you are old

Critical analysis of poem When You Are Old

1. When You Are Old W. B. Yeats

2. About the Author:- Full Name :- William Butler Yeats Born on :- 13 June 1865, in Sandymount, Ireland. An Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. A pillar of the Irish literary establishment , he helped to found the Abbey Theatre.

3. Other Works :- Adam's Curse Blood and the moon Politics The Second Coming The Scholars Died on:- 28 January 1939

4. First published in 1893 in his collection The Rose. Historical Context :- Maud Gonne, like Yeats, was seen as a political figure in Ireland. Both were nationalists, and it was this passion, that made Yeats fall in love with her. Yeats proposed her numerous times, and each time she denied. So the impact of Gonne on Yeats’ work is undeniable.

5. When you are old and grey and full of sleep,                 Colour         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; Moving head

6. How many loved your moments of glad grace,                                               Happy And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,                 Sacred Place And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

7. And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur , a little sadly, how Love fled                                                       P.P. of flee And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

8. Analysis Theme Point of view Poetic devices Tone Style Symbol

9. Poetic Devices Alliteration Rhyme S cheme Repetition Imagery

10. Themes of this poem  :-  Concepts of love, loss, and regret. point of view :-  Second person  Tone :-   Sad

11. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings different from literal meanings. Symbols Gray  and old and full of sleep- Old woman.  Fire- Warmth and comfort.                       Mountains overhead and crowd of stars-  Something the elderly woman can always see and know is there, but never fully reach.

12. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things with their five senses. He has used imagery in the poem such as, “And nodding by the fire, take down this book”, “And bending down beside the glowing bars” and “And paced upon the mountains overhead”.

13. Figures of speech  Alliteration:- Alliteration is a repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of the letters in the same line. For example, the sound of /h/ in “And h id h is face amid a crowd of stars”. Personification:-   Personification is to give human characteristics to inanimate objects. For example, “Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled”, as if the love is human and it can move.

14. Rhyme Scheme:-   The poem follows the ABBA rhyme scheme in all the stanzas. End Rhyme:- End rhyme is used to make the poem melodious. The poet has used end rhyme in this poem such as in the first stanza the rhyming words are, “sleep”, “deep”, “book”, “look.”