“When You Are Old Poem” is a love poem, but it is also about how age affected other people’s love of the woman the speaker refers to. The poem describes the many reasons why people love this woman based on her looks. It is revealed that the speaker looked passed her appearance even as she aged. Because this is a story of unrequited love the speaker is never loved back by the woman and believes that she will regret it as she gets older. Age is significant in this story because typically as people age their exterior deteriorates, therefore the one thing that the speaker claims to be why so many people loved this woman will disappear and it will be revealed that the speaker was the only person to see past that.
2 thoughts on ““When You Are Old” is obviously a very romantic poem but it is also about aging.”
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Emily, I agree with your interpretation of how William Butler Yeats addresses decaying youth and its correlation to love. The speaker of the poem reveals that while many “loved [her] beauty with love false or true,” he continued to love her and “the sorrows of [her] changing face.” The author clearly believes that the woman’s lovers were only attracted to her physical beauty, while his love for her was genuine as he truly understood and cherished her inner soul. In writing this poem, the poet intends to caution his lover that if she does not reciprocate his love, she would regret her decision in her old age, when her beauty disappears.
I agree with your analysis regarding the relationship between age and beauty in this poem. Yeats uses this poem to criticize those who are focused on their exterior beauty and impressing others, eventually leading them to ignoring those who have true love for them. He explains how old age will reveal to the reader the true effect that physical beauty had on their perception of life. Ignoring those who love you now, regardless of physical features, will lead you to be isolated in the future when your looks have deteriorated.