Major Themes in “When You Are Old”:
Love, rejection and time
are the major themes of this poem. To express pure love, the poet invites her to have a glance at the time when she will be old and will not be surrounded by fake lovers. Therefore, she should understand his feelings toward her.
When you are old last stanza meaning?
After an initial read, many see this poem as one that is filled with love, but the last stanza is dark;
the speaker is reminding his former mistress that their love did not last
, and this is something she should regret for the rest of her life.
Who is Yeats addressing in when you are old?
Most critics agree that the poem is about Yeats's relationship with
Maud Gonne
, an Irish actress and nationalist. Though the poem is one of the best-loved of Yeats's works, many people don't realize that it is based on a much earlier sonnet by Pierre de Ronsard, a 16th century French Renaissance poet.
When you are old by WB Yeats questions and answers?
- Question 1: How is the journey from youth to old age described in the poem?
- Question 2: What does the phrase ‘full of sleep' mean?
- Question 3: According to the speaker, what will the woman regret in her old age?
What type of poet was WB Yeats?
Yeats is considered one of the key twentieth-century English-language poets. He was a
Symbolist poet
, using allusive imagery and symbolic structures throughout his career.
What does Yeats say about his beloved eyes?
When You Are Old
” WHEN you are old and grey 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 …
When you are old pilgrim soul meaning?
A pilgrim is a traveller. Soul in this case means mind or personality. A pilgrim soul might mean a
part of you that wants to travel
, or it may mean that your personality changes over time. There is one man who loves that part of you.
How is the journey from youth to old age described in the poem?
Answer: Explanation: The journey from youth to old age is well described in the poem ‘
when you are old
‘ in a way that touched the readers hearts. This poem says that when one start to grow old, all the troubles and struggles that he has faced will be seen in the form of his wrinkles.
How can we say that the person being addressed was once beautiful?
We can say that the person being addressed was once beautiful because the poet says that many people loved (which is in the past tense)
her grace and her beauty
.
What do the word nodding by the fire suggest?
The poet
tries to put her mind in the future
when she is an ‘old and gray' woman, ‘full of sleep', to ‘slowly read' a book of memories from her youth. As the woman is ‘nodding by the fire' she leafs through the book (her memories) and recollects her days of'soft looks' and ‘sorrows' as she changed.
How can we say that the love was lost forever?
We can say that the love is lost forever because
it has run to the mountain top to be distant from the loved one
.
What are the metaphors used in the poem speak up?
Various metaphors used in this poem are
the oven, the flames, the padlock, and the fetter
. These metaphors have been used to describe the struggle for India's freedom in a symbolical manner and metaphors describe some aspects of our struggle for freedom in an imaginative manner.
What are the glowing bars in when you are old?
The glowing bars-
the iron bars in the fire-place
are glowing hot because of the fire burning in it. And bending love fled- The poet imagines that in her old age his beloved would feel that love has left the world, and lives now in the stars and the mountains.
Why does the poet urge the reader to speak up now?
The poem “Speak Up” written by Faiz Ahmad Faiz is intended to
encourage the reader to speak boldly and clearly what he thinks and what he believes in
. He wants the reader to speak up for those who're confronting injustice and cruelties by tyrants.
Why is Yeats important?
Irish poet, dramatist, and prose writer William Butler Yeats was the preeminent writer of the Irish literary renaissance at the turn of the 20th century. … In 1923 Yeats became
the first Irish writer to receive a Nobel Prize for Literature
.
How does Yeats appreciate the beauty of nature?
How does Yeats appreciate the beauty of nature? He says, as he opens the poem, he sees the trees “in their autumn beauty”. He appreciates the beauty of nature
when he compares the lake water to a mirror, swans sailing with no change for the last nineteen years
.
When was Yeats a coat written?
For example, in “A Coat,” written in
1912
, Yeats derided his 1890s poetic style, saying that he had once adorned his poems with a coat “covered with embroideries / Out of old mythologies.” The poem concludes with a brash announcement: “There's more enterprise / In walking naked.” This departure from a conventional 19th …
What are in the memory of the Speaker in his old age?
What things are in the memory of the speaker in his old age?
The speaker is lamenting on the loss of his bygone days
. Throughout the poem he expresses his sadness and disappointment on the loss. … The old man of the poem, hence, laments on the lost glories of his past.
How many loved your moments of glad grace and loved your beauty with love false or true?
“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 amid a …
How is the title when you are old relevant?
The title suggests that how the future would be without true love, how the person being addressed would regret after rejecting the man's true love. Another alternate title could be ‘
The rejected love
‘.
Why was when you are old written?
It's written about
two young people imagining what life will be like when they are old
. It seems to be an attempt by Yeats to warn Gonne what life could be like if she rejects his pure and genuine love for her and instead turns to what he sees as the less genuine love of others.
What is the meaning of the poem Hawk Roosting?
Hawk Roosting is a poem that
puts the reader into the imagined mind of a hawk about to rest up for the day
. It's a monologue of a raptor given the powers of human thinking, thus personified. … It has no enemies except perhaps for humans so it does not fear life as other creatures further down the chain fear it.
How does the poem heaven if you are not here on earth visualize heaven?
How does the poem ‘Heaven, if you are not here on Earth' visualise heaven? Answer: …
He makes a direct address to nature and declares that if heaven does not exist on the earth where else can it be
. He justifies his statement referring to the streams, the waves, and the sunlight.
What does the poet has to say about life in his old age?
The poet is saying
that life is only what we perceive it to be
. … The poet says that although he has grown old, his hair is all grey and he walks with a stoop but still he is young at the mind because his thoughts are young. Because life is just a thought, we make of life according to what we perceive of it.
What does the phrase full of sleep mean?
The phrase full of sleep means
being drowsy and lazy all the time
. In our old age we alwys feels annoyed but sometimes we feel active. the body remains lying full day that is why full of sleep ismainly used for older man who are not active and fresh.
Why would the person being addressed murmur a little sadly?
Answer: The poem
reflects the sadness of the ‘voice' at having been rejected by the person he loves
. It is also cautionary – warning the person to whom the lines are addressed that she is likely to be lonely in old age.
How is the poet's love different from that of those who also loved his beloved?
The poet's love stands different from those of the other lovers. Others loved his beloved for her soft looks, charming eyes, and physical beauty. The poet loved his beloved
for her pilgrim soul and inner beauty
. His love was spiritual, while as others was sensual.
Was there another Troy for her to burn?
Was there another Troy for her to burn? In the above five concluding lines of ‘No Second Troy,' the beautiful revolutionary lady Maud Gonne is seen in terms of destruction. Her beauty is said to be like a tightened bow. Her mind is made simple as a fire of nobleness.
What does toad signify in the poem toads?
The poem begins with the speaker describing how there is one thing that plagues him more than anything else, a toad. This toad, represents
work, exterior obligations, and financial pressures
. It is always there, forcing poison into his life.
How is the world broken by narrow domestic walls?
According to the poet, the world, i.e., the unity of people has been broken up into
fragments
. The world is broken up by the ‘narrow domestic walls' like the caste system, social classes, religions, colour, creed and so on.
What does the phrase your changing face suggest?
Ans: The phrase “your changing face” suggests that
her youth and beauty will fade away
. When she grows old her face will get shrunk and will look different.
What does the poem when you are old reflect?
Major Themes in “When You Are Old”:
Love, rejection and time
are the major themes of this poem. To express pure love, the poet invites her to have a glance at the time when she will be old and will not be surrounded by fake lovers. Therefore, she should understand his feelings toward her.
How can we say that the person being addressed has many admirers?
Answer: When a person which is being addressed has a lot of admirers, that means
the person is lovable among people
. Explanation: Such people are usually honest and brave and people praise them for their loyalty and honesty. So, the person which has many admirers was truly loved by people around him.
Do you think speak up is an effort of the poet to give voice to the voiceless How?
It is true that the poet has been trying to express the happiness and pain that the voiceless things go through by giving them a voice and expressing their feelings through the means of poem he
has been writing
.
How can the padlocks of slavery open their mouths speak up?
The poet requests the suppressed people of his society
to raise their voice against the injustices
done to them. He requests them to speak up because their lips cannot be sealed by cruel people. … The poet advises his citizens to use their well-built body to free themselves as long as they are alive.
What does the red oven symbolize?
The smithy is symbolic of the struggle going on for India's freedom. The oven symbolizes
the heat generated by the death of the various martyrs
.
What are the images used by the poet in Speak Up?
Poets create imagery by using figures of
speech like simile
(a direct comparison between two things); metaphor (comparison between two unrelated things that share common characteristics); personification (giving human attributes to nonhuman things); and onomatopoeia (a word that mimics the natural sound of a thing).
