When you are old, gray-haired and sleepy,
Take a nap by the fire, take down this book,
Reading slowly, dreaming of the gentle eyes.
Your eyes were once, and their shadows were deep;
How many people love your happy and elegant moments,
Loving your beauty with true or false love,
But there is one person who loves your pilgrim soul,
Love the sadness on your aging face;
Bend down by the glowing fireplace,
Whispering a little sadly, how love dies.
Pacing on the mountains overhead
Hide his face among the stars.
when you are old
Translated by Yuan Kejia
When you are old, gray-haired and sleepy,
Take a nap by the fire, please write down this poem.
Read slowly and recall the tenderness of your eyes in the past.
Recall the heavy shadows of their past;
How many people love you when you are young and happy,
Worship your beauty, hypocrisy or sincerity,
Only one person loves your pilgrim soul,
Love the painful wrinkles on your aging face;
I hung my head, by the red fire,
Whispering sadly about the passing of love,
On the mountain overhead, it walked slowly.
A face is hidden among a group of stars.
About the author: William Butler Yeats (1865 ~ 1939), also known as "Ye Zhi" and "Yates", is an Irish poet and playwright, a famous mystic, a leader of the Irish Renaissance movement and one of the founders of Abbey Theatre. Ye Zhi was also interested in drama and wrote 26 plays.