The way I interpret the poem is through a male’s perspective on his love whom he grew old with. It seems to be a reminiscence of the past that they had and how he came to love her. Though many people loved her for her or for her looks, he loved her for her adventurous spirit and how impressionable she was. The last stanza, “And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled”, almost feels as if he is sad how times have changed and now they are old and the fire that was once there is now diminishing. What I took away from this is that love can be ever so lasting, but time has made the relationship lose its spark.
3 thoughts on “Yeats – “When You Are Old” is obviously a very romantic poem but it is also about aging. 10/24”
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I agree with you that he is talking about aging and beauty does not matter for him. He loved her because of her soul. I like at the end how you describe in detail about how time changes.
I agree with you that he was a person who loved someone. He also says that other people love her only because of her beauty but he loved her with her soul. I like the at the end you explain in detail.
I really like the way you interpreted this poem. Though simple as if it’s a romantic love poem, he also does seem to be reminiscing the old times when he loved her for her beauty, but also her soul. However in the end, although it does have a sadder tone, I think there are various of ways to interpret it.