W.B. Yeats ''When you are old'' Poem Analysis

W.B. Yeats has created rhythm in his poem "When You Are Old" by using a familiar meter, simple rhyme scheme and by enhancing these forms with effective poetic devices and substitutions. Almost everyone who has studied English has read a play written by William Shakespeare.
Yeats uses the same form, iambic pentameter, to create a steady rhythm that is familiar to many readers. He uses substitution feet to deviate from the regular meter and emphasize the parts of the poem he feels are important. For example, he uses a spondaic foot to make the alliteration "glad grace" stand out. To maintain his steady rhythm he also uses phyrric feet to rapidly flow through small words and prepositions. The second part of the line, "...and of their shadows deep;" uses one of these feet to keep 'of' from being stressed, adding to the effect of the imagery of the eyes in the past. The use of a simplistic rhyme scheme does not mean the poem is simple by any means. In fact, it is just the opposite. The use of an ABBA CDDC EFFE rhyme scheme is a strategic decision by the author to help create constant rhythm and repetition. Each stanza is one long poetic sentence that is held together with rhyme. The rhyming couplets in the 2nd and
3rd lines make the rhythm flow. The last word of the 4th line enhances the lyricism, completing the thought by connecting the 1st line with rhyme. In more ways then one, “When You Are Old” was carefully planned out and masterfully written. W.B. Yeats utilizes a various number of poetic devices and strategies to satisfy the reader without making it overwhelming as many poems are.