Eternal Love： An Analysis of “When You Are Old”

【Abstract】Yeats， who is an outstanding romantic Irish poet， wrote many immortal poems for his lifelong admiration. One of the most well-known poems is called “When You Are Old” which creates a beautiful artistic world where it conveys his grief over the loss of love. This article attempts to analyze the charm of “When You Are Old” in terms of its rich emotional factors and unique artistic expressions.

【Key words】“When You Are Old”； Yeats； Eternal love

【作者簡介】刘曦妍，四川省大邑中学高二（5）班。

I. Introduction

William Butler Yeats （1865-1939）， an Irish poet and playwright， was considered to be one of the leaders of the “Irish Renaissance” and creators of the Abbey Theatre， also praised by poet Eliot as “the greatest poet of the times” and eventually won the Nobel prize in literature in 1923. “When You Are Old” was a sincere love poem written by Yeats in 1893 which aimed to express subtly his love to Maud Gonne. He was in love with the girl in his lifetime while he never gained her response of love all the time. In the poem， the poet boldly uses a broad variety of artistic expressions， such as imagination， contrast， image emphasis， symbolic sublimation and euphemism， deeply reproducing the poet’s love to his dreamy lover， which impresses greatly readers （Zhang， 2011）.

II. Creative background

In 1889， Yeats， who was only 24 years old， first met Maud that was 16 years old. He was overwhelmed by her unusual beauty， which could be manifested by his poem. In the “Arrow”， Yeats wrote： “She is tall and noble， and her face and chest are as bright as apple blossoms”. At that time， the poet fell into hopeless love and opened his life’s longing， ecstasy and annoyance. However， in the face of the passionate poet， Maud Gang， a gorgeous woman who devoted her life to the independence movements in Ireland， did not regard him as an ideal life companion， but marry a revolutionary according with her own faith. Even after a few setbacks in her marriage， she still stubbornly refused to respond to the poet’ love （Li， 2002）. In order to convey his indistinct sadness， he wrote many moving poems， one of which is “When You Are Old”：

When You Are Old

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 his face amid a crowd of stars.

III. Artistic features

1.The plain language

There is no luxurious rhetoric， sweet tenderness， burning oath， but a romantic atmosphere in plain language. True love does not love “her moments of glad grace”， but love “her pilgrim soul”， and is a pure emotion through time precipitation. Beyond the space-time love， its warmth and sincerity are not inferior to the hot confession. Many love poems always convey burning love， nevertheless， the poem “When You Are Old” is an eye to the lonely figure of “When you are old and gray and full of sleep， and nodding by the fire” where love seems like a murmuring stream， flowing quietly in the quiet forest.

At the same time， Yeats do not have too much descriptions about beautiful appearance of the lady he loves. The traditional English poetry that expresses admiration is mostly the descriptions of the beauty of women， as a result， the image of women in English poetry is almost fixed： they bloom like roses， and they have arrogant cheeks or lips， white skin， attractive eyes， charming smile， gentle and sweet voice and slender figure， and so on （Zhang， 2011）. The poet broke through the inherent way of description， and did not focus on the beauty of Maud Gonne， but fully mobilize his own imagination to express euphemistically.

2.The fastidious use of words

In addition， its language is simple and elegant， and the poet penetrates his deep love between the lines. The poem consists of three sections， twelve sentences， and l00 words. From the simple narration of the first section and the direct expression of the second verse to the dejected emotion of the third quarter， the poet’s complex emotion is vividly conveyed （Liu， 2015）. The last two sentences in the second verse are the finishing touch of the whole poem. “But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you， and loved the sorrows of your changing face”， presents the sincerity of the poet himself.

The whole poem is actually made up of a sentence. Through the several key predicate verbs in the poem， we can simply reconstruct this sentence as follows： you take down poetry to read， dream of past， murmur the vanish of love. Meanwhile， the whole poem is also inspired by the sense of space. Therefore， we can see that the tense in verse points to the present in the first and third quarter while it goes back to the past in the second quarter （Li， 2002）. On the one hand， the form of the conception of time embodies the path of the flow of consciousness of the protagonist， on the other hand， what is the most important is able to expand the artistic conception and space of the poem. Connecting with the “mountains” and “stars” in the last two lines， it not only spans the past and present in time and space but also connects the heaven and the earth， which woven the four dimensional space where it flows with poet’s love. Because love is everywhere and goes through the past and the present， the poet’s individual love has been sublimated into the eternal love of mankind.

3.The beauty of sentimental artistic conception

The artistic conception of “When You Are Old” contains profound honey in the gentle and persistent love. The poet sets the scene by the fire， which implies a profound meaning. The “fire” in the first section can give us some comforts in the coldness and darkness， just like the poet’s steadfast love remaining unchanged when the beauty is old. The third section reproduces the image of the fire. The “glowing bars” and “glowing” are much hotter and more dazzling， which shows the poet’s love and persistence （Xu， 2016）. We open a beautiful picture in front of our eyes： In the twilight winter， a sleepy lover nestled in front of the warm fireplace， the fire reflected the vicissitudes of the lover， and she read the poet’s love poems written to her in a quiet and peaceful mood， contrasting with the blazing emotions of the poet. Look back suddenly， did she regret the true love that once refused？

In the course of time， it only leaves the sentimental loneliness， the warmth of the fire and the poetry of the strong companions. And the images of the poems with the mountains and stars， which imply the secular and heaven， tenacity and eternity， and then promote the sublimation of the artistic conception where the poet’s love crosses time and space， holy and transcendent. At the top of the mountains and among the stars， he gazed fondly at the lover whom he yearned for. However， no matter how desirable and admirable， the poet can not get the love that has long been waiting for.

IV. Conclusion

As a lyric poem full of romanticism. In the poem “When You Are Old”， there are two outstanding points. Firstly， it is the poet’s loyalty to love. It is not to love her for a while， but to love her lifetime， and whether she is beautiful or wrinkled， it can not change the heart of love. Although the love was a dream that he had never been able to achieve in his life， he could never forget her. Secondly， the poet’s love is holy. Instead of focusing on his dreamy lover’s appearance， he paid more attention to his heart. His deep love was also because of her heroic struggle and indomitable dedication for the Irish national liberation， just as the soul of her pilgrims. Although Yeats did not approve or participate in the armed struggle for the independence of the nation， he was longing for the independence and freedom of Ireland （Zou， 2001）. Therefore， this poem not only shows the poet’s love for his dreamy lover， but also reflects the poet’s love for his native land. In a word， it is a masterpiece of love through time and space. The twists and turns of its creative background， surging and forgiving feelings， and unique artistic charm make the love poem very moving and shining.

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