When You Are Old

W.B. Yeats- I spent a lot of time with this fellow at one point in my reading life, a time when I was not old or gray, as I am now. Many people consider him to be the greatest poet in any language.  I never tire of reading these lines below; the first stanza has an ease and flow that is especially sweet.

 Of course this poem was inspired and written for a woman he wanted but could not have as is often the case for poetry writing.  He is telling her he will always love her even when she is no longer the beauty she is now, in fact he fancies he would be the only one to still love her then.

(Am I the only one who thinks she looks a little like Tina Fey?)




Below that for those who prefer audio when it comes to poetry, Colin Farrell reads this poem with his lovely soft Irish accent.

And just look at the cover of the 2015 edition of Penguin's When You Are Old: Early Poems, Plays and Fairy Tales by William Butler Yeats.  It is William Morris' Tulip and Willow designed in 1873.  Isn't it beautiful?

Hope there is something poetic in your day.