When You are Old - WB Yeats

Question 1

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,

Answer 1

(…) take down this book, / and slowly read

Question 2

How many loved your moments of glad grace

Answer 2

And loved your beauty with love false or true

Question 3

But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you

Answer 3

And loved the sorrows of your changing face

Question 4

Love fled

Answer 4

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Question 5

THEMES (4)

Answer 5

1. love & relationships
2. time and beauty
3. loss, grief and reminiscence
4. death

Question 6

RHYME SCHEME

Answer 6

abba (3 quatrains)

Question 7

repetition?

Answer 7

of ‘And’

Question 8

SPEAKER VIEWPOINT

what does the poem reveal about him?

Answer 8

the hypothetical situation created in this poem betrays his hopes and insecurities for the future (he wants to be the woman’s lover till his dying breath), as well as his fear of death.

Question 9

ATTITUDES

Answer 9

old age should not be a thing to fear; love can last even after death