Shoopman 1 Amber Shoopman Garawyn McGill English 275-001 October 2, 2013 Different Perspectives William Butler Yeats wrote

a poem titled When You Are Old about an elderly woman who knows she is dying. In the poem, Yeats uses many contrasting words to create an imagery that allows the reader to interpret the poem in contrasting ways as well. By analyzing the contrasts in Yeats poem, in both a literal and a symbolic light, two different perspectives of death can be gleaned from the verses; one telling a tale of woe, the other a story of joy. To really understand these two different perspectives, one must first understand the way Yeats uses contrasting diction to create them. In the first line of the first stanza, he uses the words old, grey, and sleep (1). These words are meant to create a feeling of dread and somberness in the reader. In the following line, he contrasts those feelings by using the word fire which exudes power, brightness, and life (2). Together, these contrasts allow the reader to see that the woman is caught between the world of the living and world of the dead. She, and the reader, have mixed feelings about what the future will hold. These feelings of confusion continue through the next few verses as he talks of her eyes, which many say are the windows to the soul. At first her eyes are described as being soft in her youth (3). Yeats then contrasts that with the shadows deep that they have come to hold over the years (4). Here again is an example of how Yeats is pushing the reader to see two different sides to this womans story. In essence, he is showing that there are two different sides to the

Shoopman 2 woman, which transcend the mere process of aging, thus revealing two different perspectives to what her death holds. The second stanza is dedicated to increasing the distance between the two halves. He does this with a brilliant use of diction as well as word placement. In the first line of the stanza he uses the word glad to describe the way she comported herself in front of others (5). However, this is contradicted by his use of the word sorrows in the last line of the stanza to display a side of her only one man was ever shown (8). Not only do these words contrast with one another, but the placement within the stanza beginning and end show the great gap between who this woman portrayed herself as, and who she really was. Another example of this is found in the second line of the second stanza. Yeats uses the word beauty to describe the woman that the world fell in love with, suggesting a superficial reason and meaning (6). The contrast to this word comes in the third and fourth line. Here Yeats introduces a man who loves the womans pilgrim soul which indicates that he has looked beyond the superficial and found something more to love (7). This is further proved by the continuation of his love despite her changing face (8). Not only was the woman changing physically, as we all do with age, she was changing on the inside as well. This can be implied to mean she was simply tired of living a lie for the people, and allowed herself to be her true self for this man who seemed to love her regardless. By analyzing the way Yeats contrasts imagery, it becomes obvious that he wants the reader to see the different perspectives that death holds. He wants the reader to look past the superficial, literal story to try to find the deeper, symbolic meaning. In essence, the woman is likened to this poem about death. There is an outward appearance that everyone must go through,

Shoopman 3 and then there is the more personal, internalized way we choose to deal with death. Two different perspectives that change based on what we choose to see. If When You Are Old is taken in a literal, superficial way, it is a terrible tale of woe. The woman is described as being old, grey, and full of sleep (1), with eyes full of shadows deep (4). Here at the end of her days, she is looking through an old book, dwelling on the beauty (6) and glad grace (5) of her youth. She is lucky enough to find a man who loves her soul (7), despite the fact that she is growing older and her face is changing from youthful to elderly (8). It is in the final stanza that Yeats really forces the reader to decide which perspective to take. In the literal sense, her Love fled, meaning that he left her (10). Yeats furthers his imagery by stating that the man hid his face amid a crowd of stars, which taken literally means he was not who he portrayed himself to be; much like the woman in the second stanza (12). Thus Yeats shows a woman, old, tired, dying alone, with nothing but her memories to mock her. By contrast, when the poem is read more closely looking at the deeper, symbolic meanings behind the diction Yeats chose to use, this story is one of hope and joy. The woman is still old and nodding by the fire (2). Looking more closely at this phrase, however, one can see that she is still holding on to life. She is not fully sleeping (1) which can symbolize death, but she is nodding getting close to sleep by the fire (2) which, as previously discussed, represents life and energy. Instead of looking at a book (2), she is sifting through the pages of her mind her memories and dreaming (3) of the way things used to be. She remembers a world that only saw what she wanted them to see, and the one man who saw beyond that. Yeats uses symbolic imagery in the third stanza when he says Love fled, to show that the man did not leave her, but has already passed on (10). This is illustrated by his use of the

Shoopman 4 phrase paced upon the mountains overhead, which shows how anxious he is for her to join him in his exalted place (11). The fact that he is amid a crowd of stars signals to the reader that he is in heaven. The deeper, symbolic meaning of When You Are Old shows a woman who relishes the memories of her life without regret, and is unafraid of dying because she will be reunited with her one true love. Yeats wrote When You Are Old as a deliberate attempt to show how different people view death and dying. Some are superficial and see only what they are losing life, beauty, love. Others look deeper and see it as another adventure of a life already well lived. Through the use of contrasting imagery, Yeats shows the reader that there are always different perspectives to every scenario. He encourages both a literal and symbolic journey, so that a deeper understanding can be gleaned from every situation.

Shoopman 5 Works Cited Yeats, William Butler. When You Are Old. PoetryFoundation.org. Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute, 2013. Web. 9 Sep. 2013.