English 1118-54 Online 19 October 2014 Explication of “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‚ 5 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
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William Butler Yeats “When You Are Old” is a tribute to deeper love‚ an obvious interpretation of a poem that contains the word “love” five times in twelve lines. However‚ it is specifically the speaker’s personal analysis of what he imagines “love” to entail. It represents an elderly woman reminiscing of her younger days. A past lover whispers to her as she looks through a photo album. This is a very somber‚ regretful and resigned poem. It has a quiet‚ dreamlike feeling to it. And uses uncomplicated
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“When You Are Old” The poem “When You Are Old” written by William Butler Yeats is a poem spoken by an anonymous narrator. The narrator seems to be talking to a woman and refers to her youth and his love for her throughout the poem. In the first stanza‚ the narrator speaks about the woman being “old and gray and full of sleep”‚ this line is telling the reader that the woman is of older age. When the narrator says “take down this book‚ and slowly read‚ and dream of the soft look your eyes had once
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In the poem “When You Are Old‚” by W.B. Yeats‚ the speaker is addressing a bygone lover of his. Through the poem the speaker is both loving and haughty towards the woman. The speaker appears to be very fond of the woman‚ but he is also somewhat vain and self absorbed. He speaks to her with love and sincerity at some points in the poem; then he also addresses her in a tone that is far from love and is bordering on haughty disposition. The diction and imagery play vital roles in creating the tone
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When you are old and gray 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
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achieved by an undulating rhyme scheme (ABBA) and use of soft-sounding‚ uncomplicated words that are nevertheless powerful. The theme is the painful one of unrequited love‚ which Yeats manipulates in an interesting manner. Instead of focusing upon the present or the past‚ as is usually the case with this often used theme‚ Yeats looks to the future‚ a future in which the two people in the poem are destined to be forever apart. That the unhappy ending only becomes apparent in the last stanza makes it all
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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
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Write about the poem “When You Are Old”. You should describe what the poet writes about and how he uses language to convey his thoughts and feelings. In W.B Yeats poem "When You Are Old‚" an anonymous narrator requests of a former lover to remember her youth and his love for her‚ the poem continues to tell the tale of this unrequited love the narrative persona feels. Unrequited love is the theme for this poem and is illustrated through a number of different techniques. There are three stanzas
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Ray Bradburry‚ and the poems “Outside History” by Eavan Boland‚ and “When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats all show human experience symbols. In the story “Zero Hour” by Ray Bradburry uses one of the characters named mink to symbolize sneakiness. In the story‚ a loud Seven-year-old named Mink was the leader of a game called Invasion‚ where in every yard on the street children brought out knives and forks and pokers and old stovepipes to use in the game. The game only consisted of younger children
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last time you met someone new. Were you drawn to them? Did they pique your interest? Did you like them immediately? Now think about how long it took you to form your initial impression of them. Research says it’s likely your first impression was set in less than a second. Take a minute to let that sink in….that means that most of the people you interact with are forming their impression of you before you speak a single word and‚ possibly‚ before you even realize they are sizing you up. This
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