WHEN YOU ARE OLD 

William Butler Yeats 1865-1939 

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.

W B Yeats spent most of his life besotted with the beautiful actress, Maud Gonne. Sadly for him it was an unrequited love because she did not return his feelings. She refused his offer of marriage several times, although they remained friends throughout their lives.

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