when you are old
DESCRIPTION
An analysis of a poem written by W. B. Yeats.TRANSCRIPT
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WHEN YOU ARE OLDBy
William Butler Yeats
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INTRO
Broken heart
LOVE
Yeats’ personal experienc
e
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ANALYSISWhen You Are Oldby 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 device
s
theme
point of
view
symbol
tone
style
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POETIC DEVICES
Poetic Device
s
rhyme
meter
imagery
repetition
alliteration
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RHYME
End Rhyme
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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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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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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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STANZAIC FORMS
Quatrain i.e. four lines in each stanza with a rhyme pattern of “a b b a”
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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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Theme• Regret
Point of View • Second person
Tone• Sad
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SYMBOL
Words/Phrases“Gray and old and full of sleep”
“Fire”
“mountains overhead” and “crowd of stars”
InterpretationsAn 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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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 the things
you have until you don’t have them
anymore.