When You Are Old by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
WHEN you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face among a crowd of stars.
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As a poet I am pleased to find this opportunity to share poetry on an international basis. It seems that poetry is having a renaissance! Recently I translated this poem about old age by W.B. Yeats into Norwegian. It will be published in a new anthology of poems I have selected and translated for Villanden Forlag (www.villanden.no): "Dei løynde kjeldene" ("The Hidden Springs"). Åse Lilleskare Faugstad
I appreciate the enthusiasm for literature - which I share!