When you are old-William Butler Yeats (original)
When you are old, gray-haired and sleepy,
Tired of sitting by the fire, take down this book,
Read slowly, chasing the eyes of the year.
Your soft eyes and deep aura.
How many people like your flash in the pan,
Love your beauty, hypocrisy or truth,
Only one person loved your pilgrim heart,
Love the scars of years on your sad face.
Bend over the hood,
Meditation and muttering,
How love dies, how to climb mountains,
How to hide your face among the stars?
Extended data:
Poetry appreciation
When the poet wrote this poem, the object he loved was young, with a beautiful face and charm. People often say, "Which girl is not good at love and which boy is not good at love." Throughout the ages, love always seems to be associated with youth and beauty.
When people are bathed in the glory of love, there is only the present in their minds, and there is always a hidden desire to refuse time, change and turn the moment into eternity. However, the poet is determined to travel far away just to visit, thinking of the girl's old age and imagining her white-haired and rickety body.
Telling a girl who is enjoying the fruits of youth about her twilight years is like telling a newborn child that he must die. This is cruel, but it is an irresistible natural law. The poet wrote this not only to tell her the "truth", but to express his love for her in this way.
The poet seems to be a loner, watching from a distance, but madly in love with this admired girl, offering her unique but truly precious love, because the true love or false love of others only loves her face, and the unique poet loves her noble soul.
Beauty is easy to get old, but youth is hard to stay, but the noble soul and inner beauty of a girl will last forever in the passage of time, just like wine, the longer it is hidden, the more mellow it will be, so the poet's love can transcend time and external beauty.
Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-When you are old