Who is the Speaker in the Poem “When You Are Old”?

Who is the speaker in the poem? To whom is the poem addressed? Give reasons for your answer.

In the poem “When You Are Old,” (1893) William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) talks about love, beauty, and time. He paints a picture of what will happen when a person grows old. The speaker in the poem is someone who deeply loved the person he is talking to. He asks this person to remember their past. This beautiful poem shows the passage of time and the value of true love.

The speaker in the poem is a man who is looking back at the woman he once loved. He is talking to her in the future when she will be old. The poem is addressed to the woman Yeats loved, who is believed to be Maud Gonne, a woman he admired deeply.

The speaker is imagining what the woman will feel when she is old. He asks her to take down a book and read it. He wants her to remember the beauty she once had and the love she received. Many people loved her for her beauty, but the speaker loved her soul. He loved her not just for her outer appearance, but for her true, inner self. The speaker remembers how her face changed with time and how he loved her even more for it.

The poem is a reflection on love that goes beyond physical beauty. The speaker wants her to remember how love faded and how it is now far away, symbolized by love hiding among the stars. The speaker’s love is deep and eternal, unlike others who loved her for her beauty. This shows that true love sees beyond the surface.