William Butler Yeats' Poem "When You Are Old

1. When You Are Old Poem By: William Butler Yeats PowerPoint By: Hannah Dechert

2. Biographical Information: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland Use of Irish mythology and folklore can be seen in work In 1923 was awarded with the Nobel Prize for literature W. B. Yeats is a symbolist poet (uses symbolism and allusive imagery) Was a senator for the Irish Free State

3. When You Are Old 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.

4. Organization/Structure/Form When You Are Old has 3 stanzas, and 12 lines. Poem is structured to make the poem like a song. Has an A B B A rhyme scheme. This poem is a ballad When you are old and grey and full of sleep, A And nodding by the fire, take down this book, B And slowly read, and dream of the soft look B Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; A How many loved your moments of glad grace, C And loved your beauty with love false or true, D But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, D And loved the sorrows of your changing face; C And bending down beside the glowing bars, E Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled F And paced upon the mountains overhead F And hid his face amid a crowd of stars E

5. Speaker The speaker is an old person. They are speaking back to a younger person or you on what it is like to grow old. They may be trying to prepare a younger person on what it is like to grow old.

6. Images When you are old and grey and full of sleep, and nodding by the fire- This image is there to set the scene. It creates a peaceful, relaxed setting to where you can meet the character(s). Dream of the soft look your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep. This lets us know her eyes are know longer soft; something has hardened her and changed her She is know longer young but old and not as full of life and happiness. One man loved the pilgrim soul in you, and loved the sorrows of your changing face. The image is there to show us the love of the old woman is kind, and loved her throughout the years Shows us the old woman has a serious personality. Makes us understand why the old woman mourns his death Love fled, and paced upon the mountains overhead, and hid his face amid a crowd of stars. Lets us know the man died. Makes us imagine him going to heaven

7. Poetic/Literary Terms End Rhyme - to create a rhythm or beat Sensory Details - to set the scene and help us visualize the scene. Creates a peaceful, calm scene. Repetition - to help create the beat and exaggerate the mans love. Personification - to show how not only her husband/lover/etc. left, but her love/happiness for things, including him, left. 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

8. Literal Meaning An old woman is falling asleep by the fire when she picks up a book and reads about her old lover, and people who loved her. Love fled her and walked upon the mountains and hid its face in stars.

9. Figurative Meaning A woman has grown old and is tired by the fire. She reads a photo album of her family and those whove loved her. She specifically remembers her husband/lover who loved her as she became old in body and mind. She is sad as she remembers how this man died and went to heaven.

10. Authors Purpose The authors purpose was to enlighten us on what it is like to grow old. He wanted to show us how some good things leave when you grow old, like your youthfulness. The author wanted to show us how you will lose those who loved you/you loved and how you will have to cope with it.

11. Theme (The Message) The theme of When You Are Old is to not forget those whove loved you as you grow old.

12. Citations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._B._Yeats www.poetryoutloud.org http://vtdigger.org/2013/08/18/natural-ending-as-interest-in-green-burial-grows-funeral-industry-lawmakers- consider-regulation/ http://www.google.com/search?q=images&safe=active&client=firefox-a&hs=178&rls=com.frontmotion:en- us:unofficial&channel=fflb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=x&ei=vetqviafa7gzsqsihihgdg&ved=0cagq_auoaq& biw=1366&bih=664&surl=1#safe=active&rls=com.frontmotion:en- us:unofficial&tbm=isch&q=old+love&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=QMLkDu9ZV20d- M%253A%3BP0LwUGWWXtr1XM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F1.bp.blogspot.com%252F- OEjGOI4NgJE%252FUG1C4GK9K4I%252FAAAAAAAAFug%252FZFp3CEos22s%252Fs1600%252Fold %252520love.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fquotes.lol-rofl.com%252Fold-love%252F%3B426%3B700 http://www.picturesof.net/pages/081228-215362-470042.html http://earthsky.org/space/ten-things-you-may-not-know-about-stars