When You Are Old

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1893

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Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

“The Circus Animals’ Desertion” by William Butler Yeats (1939)

Published in 1939 in Yeats’s Last Poems, “The Circus Animals’ Desertion” consists of three parts and is an ottava rima, a rhyming form of Italian poetry typically focusing on heroic themes. Like “When You Are Old,” “The Circus Animals’ Desertion” is a remembrance of the past. However, the speaker of the past focuses on artistic loss rather than romantic loss. As a contrast, the poem is noted as a withdrawal from Modernist themes, and the subject matter of Yeats’s earlier work. Throughout the poem, the speaker processes their inability to write and the inhibitions writer’s block has placed on the speaker. The poem also incorporates references to The Countess Cathleen, who appeared in Yeats’s earlier poem and is based on Maud Gonne. Like “When You Are Old,” the poem’s tone is introspective.

“After Apple-Picking” by Robert Frost (1914)

Written by American poet Robert Frost and consisting of 42 lines, “After Apple-Picking” portrays a pastoral scene. Like “When You Are Old” and many of Yeats’s other poems, “After Apple-Picking” incorporates not only a nostalgic tone, but also a reflective, introspective one as the speaker meditates before sleep. The speaker’s thinks about their own mortality and about whether they will fall asleep and wake the next morning, or whether the sleep they are about to take is the “long sleep,” a metaphor for dying. Frost’s work parallels Yeats’s in that while Yeats focused on traditional Irish settings and folklores, Frost relied on depictions of rural New England life and colloquialisms. Considered a Modernist, Frost was a contemporary of T.S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens, and Yeats heavily influenced Frost’s work.

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot (1917)

Commonly known as “Prufrock,” “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is one of T.S. Eliot’s most famous poems. A Modernist work first published in 1917, the poem is heavily influenced by Eliot’s reading of Dante, the Bible, and other literary works, including Shakespeare. Like “When You Are Old,” “Prufrock” exudes visceral emotions such as loss, weariness, a longing for youth, and regret. The poem also possesses an awareness of the brevity of life and one’s mortality. It relies on a speaker’s reflections about growing old to create a sense of decay. While the poem’s intended audience is unknown, it is often inferred that the speaker of the poem is addressing another person. Some interpret the poem as a speaker trying to tell a woman about his love for her.

Further Literary Resources

“Yeats, Eliot, and Apocalyptic Poetry” by Nancy Helen Fletcher (2008)

In this careful examination of Yeats’s poetry and Eliot’s poetry, the author explores the role of the apocalyptic as it appears in each respective poet’s career. The author also examines the apocalypse as it appears during Yeats and Eliot’s historical and artistic time periods. The author researches humanity as the victim of inescapable historical cycles in Yeats’s work, and the role of humanity’s free will in Eliot’s. Specifically, the author researches Yeats’s “The Second Coming” and Eliot’s “The Hollow Men,” a small sample, but a decent starting point for those interested in the role of freewill, the brevity of life, and the apocalypse.

“On the Artistic Expressions of ‘When You Are Old’ by W.B. Yeats” by Xinhui Wang (2008)

In this article, the author focuses on the artistic expressions used in “When You Are Old.” Specifically, the author examines word usage and symbolism. The article also deconstructs the poem’s structure and discusses how the structure plays a role in forming a sense of imagining in the poem. The author references the role of imagination not only in Yeats’s poem, but also Shakespeare’s work and draws a correlation between the two. The article defines and discusses “fuzzy reference pro-form,” a technique used in writing to create a “special effect” in the poem. The pro-form relies on either an implied or stated “I,” and in the case of “When You Are Old,” pro-form utilizes an implied “I” strengthened by the speaker’s usage of “You.” The article concludes by discussing the place of tone and lack of passionate vocabulary in the poem.

“William Butler Yeats” by Louise Bogan (1938)

Originally published a 1938 issue of The Atlantic by American poetry critic Louise Bogan, this article provides readers with an in-depth look at the older Yeats. Bogan’s critique explores Yeats’s role in the poetry world at that time, and highlights Yeats’s “lifelong struggle against the artistic inertia of his nation.” Bogan also highlights the role of aging in a poet’s career, a theme that resonates with Yeats’s poems “The Circus Animals’ Desertion” and “When You Are Old.” The article discusses Yeats’s influence on not only Irish literature, but also his influence on global literature, as well as the role of Irish nationalism in Yeats’s personal life and literary career.