When You Are Old Tone

The use of connotative words in this piece is the foundation of this poem and it provides an idea of what this poem is going to be about. In the first stanza he describes the woman as “lovely in her bones,” showing that her beauty is more than skin deep comparing her virtues to a goddess of “only gods should speak.” In the second stanza, the reader can see and feel the love between the two people. The woman taught him how to "Turn, and Counter-turn, and Stand," showing that she was the teacher in the relationship and taught him things he thought he never needed to know. The speaker shows how when they are together, she was “the sickle” and he was “the rake” showing that this woman taught him what love is.

There are clues throughout the poem that express the man’s past experiences, leading him to have a hostile tone. The speaker represents his past as “parched years” that he has lived through (7-8) and represents his daughter’s potential future as

The poem’s structure as a sonnet allows the speaker’s feelings of distrust and heartache to gradually manifest themselves as the poem’s plot progresses. Each quatrain develops and intensifies the speaker’s misery, giving the reader a deeper insight into his convoluted emotions. In the first quatrain, the speaker advises his former partner to not be surprised when she “see[s] him holding [his] louring head so low” (2). His refusal to look at her not only highlights his unhappiness but also establishes the gloomy tone of the poem. The speaker then uses the second and third quatrains to justify his remoteness; he explains how he feels betrayed by her and reveals how his distrust has led him

Readers of Keats’s story begin to realize that the fear of a young death is a demon that haunts us all. This was Keats’s goal as a romantic writer: to connect with the reader, to portray his ideas in the form of art, and to make the reader see from his point of view. With his use of colorful figurative language, such as repetition, imagery, and personification, Keats accomplishes his goal. The reason that Keats is so successful in painting a clear picture is because he “uses his imagination to write” (King). By writing his poem in the form of a “Shakespearean sonnet consisting of three quatrains” (King), Keats, like any great artist, clearly states the point he is trying to make. Apprehension of a young demise is a plague that haunts us all. In “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to be,” Keats takes our hands and reassures us that we are not

In the poem “When you are old”, Yeats (1893) writes: “When you are old and grey and full of sleep” (line 1). To me this is clearly speaking of old age, however, when he says that she is full of sleep he is using this as a metaphor for being at the brink of death. It is not that she is peacefully in a deep sleep, but rather her time is near and she barely has the energy to stay awake. Yeats (1893) changes the tone by writing, “Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;” (line 4). Rather than speaking of the old version, he is now talking about how she remembers herself being young. The second key symbol is how her eyes were enshrouded in mystery, or being young and adventurous with the possibility of

The structure and tone of the poem enhance the conflict and hopelessness the speaker is feeling towards the woman he loves and desires. For the first twelve lines of the poem there is an “abab” rhyming pattern. This ties into the despairing and desirable tone and how the rhyming scheme can be an example of the speaker constantly going back and forth between emotions for this women. For example, “And that mine eyes take no delight to range About the gleams which on your face do grow.” (Gascoigne 3-4) are two phrases that contradict the speakers feelings. Stating that his eyes take no delight in range can refer to the speaker finding no use or happiness in looking at the woman. Although, he then mentions the gleams upon her face growing, giving the audience the idea that even though the speakers love for the woman causes him deep despair, he still desires her enough to describe her features in attentive detail; in this example the gleams on her face. This shows the back and forth pattern and the speakers struggle when it comes

In stanza two “the summer light bent across my pages” brings a very positive feeling of hope to the reader, we can see where the poet is gaining hope from. The pages are symbolic of her education and intense studies from which she hopes will bring “light” and hope to a brighter future for herself compared to the more limiting life led by her mother. In contrast to the earlier discussed use of dark imagery which symbolises how the speaker turns to drawing the curtains on others and secluding herself resultant of her attempt to grasp the “light” that is success. But by drawing the curtains, she not only shuts out others but also blocks out the light. Perhaps the speaker feels she cannot win.

Yeats has composed an effectively concise poem of only twelve lines in iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is harnessed to replicate human speech patterns; as if the four rhetorical questions are being posed to the reader from the speaker. The romantic and personal content of this poem creates a certain level of intimacy the reader will feel with Yeats. With a simple ABABCDCDEFEF rhyming structure there is a crucial lack of rhyming couplets (often used to accentuate a couple 's closeness). Therefore a distance is already established between the speaker and their subject. Additionally, Yeats creates the emotional response to this poem by exploring historical, personal, political and classical mythological elements. Yet, at the very foreground this is a love poem, and the underlying focus on love makes this poem a typical lyric.

     When You are Old, by William Butler Yeats, represents and elderly woman reminiscing of her younger days. A past lover whispers to her as she looks through a photo album. Basically, Yeats is showing that as the woman gets older, she is alone, but she does not have to be lonely. She will always have her memories for companionship.

Throughout the poem, the speaker is interpreted as rude by the readers because of the way he draws out his mistress. The speaker says, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun / If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun”(1-3). As the speaker uses imagery to illustrates his mistress’ eyes, he is saying that they are not bright nor do they shine the way the sun shines. When the speaker describes her breast as dun, he portrays them as dull and brownish. If the speaker has a mistress, would it not be with someone who he finds beautiful; someone whose eyes do shine like the sun and has breast as beautiful as the snow? Describing her features as the opposite of these characteristics build the reader up to conclude that the speaker is both a rude and honest person.

Within William Butler Yeats poem, “When You are Old”, the reader in immediately taken back by Yeats use of: imagery, rhyming scheme, and point of view. Despite the poem only being 3 stanzas, Yeats is able to portrait a bitter narrative about the true nature of the emotions that are commonly known as love and hate.

The first layer of the poem relates to the struggle of trying to ask for help but not knowing how. The man on fire is perceived as internally angry, not necessarily because of how he lives his life,but more of accepting the concept of who he is. The woman drowning can be seen as becoming consumed in her life and she not being able to handle it. She cannot see with all

At the beginning of the second stanza, Yeats use of the metonymic phrase: “Aged man…A tattered coat upon a stick” poignantly conveys the not only narrator’s image of his own aging mortal form but the insignificance of his existence among his youthful countrymen (Lines 9,10). Most notably, the use of dramatic metaphors in Line 11 and 12, “Soul clap its hands and sing…but studying Monuments of its own magnificence”, personifies the soul as a song. In addition, it articulates the idea that one’s soul achieves perpetuity, not through “sensual” song, but through the erudition of ancient civilization (Yeats, Lines 7, 11,14). Yeats’ use of apostrophe and simile in Lines 17-22: “O sages …As in gold mosaic …Come from the holy fire, perne in gyre…Consume my heart away; sick with desire And fastened to a dying animal”, illuminates the narrator’s yearning to relinquish earthly chains. Furthermore, his use of assonance in Line 19, by which he accentuates the long ‘i’ sound of the words “fire”

In the second stanza the poet experienced his physical power decaying continuously, and could not educate his soul in that country because every singing school, instead of caring for “monuments of unageing intellect” it seemed busy studying the monuments of its own significance (Gillespie). Yeats also mentioned that even if the body becomes old and “tattered,” the soul wants to live on and grow (Gillespie). He described himself as a “tattered coat upon a stick,” which indicates that the old man looks as helpless as a scarecrow (Gillespie). In order to leave this lifeless ‘scare-crow status’ Yeats sailed to Byzantium to transform

In John Keats’ “Ode on Melancholy,” he writes on the relationship of the self and how one deals with Melancholy. There have been many different authors that have written about the topic of experiencing melancholy. Generally, writers talk about melancholy as a problem and wanting to escape it, or they discuss how one can remedy it. However, Keats takes a different approach and discusses an alternative way of looking at melancholy. On the surface, the poem talks about ways that one should not escape it, how one should deal with it, and ends with a conclusion on melancholy. The poem, when analyzed closer, shifts to a different meaning. Through Keats’ use of word choice, symbolism, and form, he discusses the relationship between appreciation