One of my
favorite poems is by W. B. Yeats, 1865 – 1939. I include his life span because the
dates place him in a historic time of particular culture, poetic form, with
specific advances in medical practice. Three
score and ten was a hoped for age not often achieved.
We regret
Yeats’ completed longevity bracket as it means he is no longer writing his
wonderful poetry and essays. He undoubtedly would have had more to say. But we
do not expect anyone born in 1865 to survive well over 100 years. So from the perspective of 2014, his
anthology was complete.
Because my
longevity bracket is not completed, today I can read Yeats to my love and pass
it on to my children who can read it to theirs. And to you.
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.
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.
When You Are Old is read with contemporary
commentary in the following video. Interesting to me is the reader’s connection
with the Ukraine, a site of so much bad death.
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