When You are Old

When You are Old is the following poem by W.B. Yeats:

When You are Old
by W. B. 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.

This poem is beautiful and sad at the same time. A woman who has grown old is reflecting back on her younger life. She was beautiful and had many admirers. There was one man who loved her for who she truly was. However, she did not appreciate him as she should have and eventually he left. Now she is left to her lonely old age to contemplate what could have been.