Summary

‘When You Are Old’ was written to express the writer’s true and
unforgettable love. The theme is a painful one of unrequited love, which the
poet manipulates in an interesting manner. Instead of focusing upon the
present or the past, the poet looks to the future, a future in which the two
people in the poem are destined to be forever apart. The poet imagines an
unreal condition that the woman he loved became old and felt regret for
refusing his true love.
That is why the poem begins with the presumption that an old and
grey lady was sitting beside the fire nodding her head. She is imagined to be
reminiscing her memories when she recalls the soft look that her eyes had
once, and how many suitors tried to court her, being charmed by her
elegance and beauty.
While admitting that many suitors were attracted by her youthful
beauty, the speaker tries to tell her that he was the only lover who loved the
pilgrim soul in her. He wants her to know that he was attracted by the
beauty of her inner self and his love would remain constant even after she
grows old. He assures her that he loves even the sorrows of her changing
face. He means to say that over a period of time her beauty will have faded
away and she will have grown old with her face having shrunk and skin
having been wrinkled indicating that she has passed through many
difficulties and sorrows.
He concludes visualizing that she is now bending down beside the
dying fire, and tells herself in a whisper in a regretful tone that her true love
has fled and is hiding his face amid a crowd of stars.

Comprehension I
I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase or a sentence
each: -

1. The speaker is addressing………….

Ans: a young woman he has loved.
2. Inline two, the word ‘book’ refers to………….
Ans: memories.
3. The words ‘glad grace’ suggest………….
Ans: her physical beauty.
4. ‘Pilgrim soul’ means the soul………….
Ans: which is questing for true love.
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5. What does the phrase ‘your changing face’ suggest?
Ans: It suggests that her youth and beauty will fade away. When she grows
old her face will get shrunk and will look different.
6. ‘Love fled’ connotes………….
Ans: the loss endured by her.
7. To whom is the poem ‘When You Are Old’ addressed?
Ans: To a young lady with whom the speaker is deeply in love.
8. What does the speaker want his beloved to do sitting by the fire?
OR
What does the speaker want his beloved to do when she is old?
Ans: The speaker wants his beloved to sit by the fire and reminisce [recall]
her memories of the past
9. Where, according to the speaker, had love hidden his face?
Ans: According to the speaker, ‘love’ had hidden his face amid a crowd of
stars.
10. Who, according to the speaker, will be ‘nodding by the fire’?
Ans: The speaker depicts his lady love as an old woman sitting beside the
fire, nodding her head.
11. What does the speaker suggest his beloved to dream of?
Ans: When she is old and grey, the speaker wants his beloved to dream of
the soft look her eyes once had and the deep shadows they now have.
12. What does ‘the sorrows of your changing face’ refer to?
Ans: The sorrows of your changing face’ refer to the changes seen in her
face as she grows older. Her face will have shrunk and wrinkles will have
appeared on her forehead and face depicting the difficulties and sorrows
faced by her over the years.
13. According to the speaker, in what way is his love for the lady
different from that of others?
Ans: While many suitors loved her beauty and elegance, he alone loved her
pilgrim soul as well as the sorrows of her changing face.
14. Mention any one aspect that the speaker loved in his beloved.
Ans: The speaker loved her ‘inner beauty’ and her ‘pilgrim soul’.
15. According to the speaker, what will the woman regret in her old
age?
Ans: The woman will regret that she had rejected the speaker’s, true love.
16. What is meant by ’pilgrim soul’?
Ans: The phrase ‘pilgrim soul’ means the soul which is in quest of ‘true
love’.
17. What look did the woman’s eyes have once in ’When You Are Old’?
Ans: Soft look.

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18. According to the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’, what did many
admire the lady for?
Ans: According to the speaker in ‘When You are Old’, many suitors were
mesmerized by her beauty and elegance.
19. In the poem “When You Are Old’ many loved the lady’s……….
Ans: physical beauty.
20. Who, according to the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’, loved the
beloved’s pilgrim soul?
Ans: According to the speaker in ‘When You are Old’, it was he (the speaker)
who loved her pilgrim soul.
21. Whose pilgrim soul did the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’ love?
Ans: The speaker in ‘When You are Old’, loved the pilgrim soul of a young
lady whom he is addressing in the poem and whose beauty and elegance
mesmerized many suitors.
22. What did the speaker in “When You Are Old’ love besides the
pilgrim soul?
Ans: The speaker in ‘When You are Old’, loved the pilgrim soul, as well as
the changes that appeared in her face as she grew older.
23. Who, according to the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’, fled and hid
his face?
Ans: According to the speaker in ‘When You are Old’, ‘Love’ (personified
‘love’] fled and hid his face.
24. Where, according to the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’, did love
pace upon?
Ans: According to the speaker in ‘When You are Old’, ‘Love’ paced upon the
mountains for a while and then disappeared.
25. The speaker loved the …………. of his beloved’s changing face in
‘When You Are Old’.
Ans: sorrows.
26. In ‘When You Are Old’, the speaker suggests to his beloved to
slowly read his book when she is………….
Ans: old.

Comprehension II
II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80-100 words each:
1. How is the ‘one-man’ different from the many others who loved the
lady?
OR
How does the speaker distinguish/contrast his love from/with that of
the others?
Ans: The speaker asks his lady love to presume that she has grown old and
grey and is sitting by the fire nodding. Then he asks her to read from her
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book of memories and reminisce [recall] her past when she was in her prime
youth. While she is thus engaged in recalling her past, the poet reminds her
that though she undoubtedly had a great many suitors who admired her
beauty and elegance and professed ‘love’ which may be true or false, he
alone loved her unconditionally.
He says that he loved her inner beauty and even the fading away of
her youth and beauty. The phrase ‘how many’ in the first line (second
stanza) stands in contrast to ‘But one man’, in the third line (second
stanza). While many suitors loved her beauty and elegance, he alone loved
her pilgrim soul as well as the sorrows of her changing face.

2. How does the poem bring out the transient nature of beauty as
against the permanence of love?
Ans: Yes. The poem, while making an attempt to persuade the young lady
not to ignore him or his love, also incidentally highlights the transient
nature of beauty as against the permanence of love. In fact, the speaker’s
argument is that, whereas all her suitors are merely attracted by her
youthful beauty and elegance, he is attracted by her pilgrim soul.
Furthermore, he claims that the love exhibited by her many suitors may not
last long and might change as she grows old.
On the contrary, his love will remain constant and unconditional. He
would love her ‘pilgrim soul’ as well as the changes in her face which appear
as one grows old. Thus, the poet, using the phrase ‘your moments of glad
grace’ in the first line of the second stanza in contrast with the phrase
‘sorrows of your changing face’ in the fourth line suggests that ‘beauty’ is
transient in nature whereas ‘love’ is permanent.

3. Why does the poet ask his beloved to reflect upon the bygone days
and the present moment?
OR
What does the speaker in When You Are Old’ suggest to his beloved to
reflect upon?
Ans: The poet asks his beloved to reflect upon the bygone days and the
present moment because he seems to be apprehensive that she will
continue to ignore him, her beauty will vanish soon and she will be alone in
her old age. That is why he is asking her to presume that she has grown old
and grey and try to foresee her predicament in the future. He does so
because he intends to persuade her to pay attention to his ‘value’ as a lover
before it is too late.

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4. Examine the theme of opposing stability of true love and the
fickleness of false love in the light of the poem.
OR
How does the speaker express his longing for his beloved?
OR
Whose love in ‘When You Are Old’ is true and intense? Explain.
OR
How does the speaker in ‘When You Are Old’ bring out his love for his
beloved against the changing circumstances and ravages of time?
Ans: ‘When You Are Old’ presents the moral dilemma faced by a sincere
lover. The speaker is the sincere lover and his lady love is the one who is
going to make a decision. The lady has attracted many suitors including the
speaker. The speaker believes that the other suitors only love her physical
charms, and not all of them are sincere in their love towards her. He means
to say that they are fickle-minded and once she loses her charms they will
desert her. On the other hand, he believes that he loves her truly and
according to him true love is the love of the inner self and has a spiritual
aspect in it. But, the lady has not responded to his love.
He feels frustrated and as a last attempt, he tries to tell her the reality.
He wants her to realize that physical beauty is transient and love of the
fickle-minded will also be transient. He wants to assure her that only his
love will be stable and if she ignores him and makes a wrong decision she
will regret it later. Thus the speaker tries to persuade his lover to make the
right decision and receive his love, which is true and intense.

5. How does the poet express his feelings for his love in the poem?
OR
How is love that is not reciprocated by the speaker’s beloved expressed
in the poem?
Ans: The poet asks his love, who is still young, to imagine a time when she
is past her prime youth. She would then be an old woman with grey hair
and sleepy eyes. When she is in such a state, he wants her to read a book of
memories from her youth. As the woman sits beside the fire, nodding her
head and leaves through her memories, she would recollect the ‘soft looks’
she once had and the sorrows she had suffered until then. When she recalls
her faded beauty she would also recall how she was admired by many
suitors who were infatuated with her physical charms. At the same time,
she would also recall how there was one man who loved her unique soul
which was in search of true love. She would also realize that her true love
has lingered on for a while, disappeared from the earth and hid amidst a
crowd of stars in heaven.

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Comprehension III
III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each:

1. The poem ’When You are Old ’highlights the feelings of a true lover.
Explain.
OR
How is the speaker’s passionate love for his beloved brought out in the
poem?
Ans: ‘When You are Old’ highlights the writer’s true and unforgettable love
for a lady. It presents the concern of sincere love for the future predicament
of his lady love. Instead of focusing upon the present or the past, the poet
looks to the future, a future in which the two people in the poem are
destined to be forever apart. The poet imagines that the woman he loved
has become old and regrets her refusing his true love.
The poem begins with the presumption that an old and grey lady is
sitting beside the fire nodding her head. When she recalls her memories,
she remembers the soft look that her eyes had once, and the number of
suitors who tried to court her, being charmed by her elegance and beauty.
While admitting that many suitors were attracted by her youthful beauty,
the speaker tries to tell her that he was the only lover who loved the pilgrim
soul in her.
He wants her to know that unlike others he was attracted by the
beauty of her inner self and his love would remain constant even in her old
age. He assures her that he loves even the sorrows of her changing face. He
wants her to understand that over a period of time her beauty will have
faded away and she will have grown old, with her face having shrunk and
her skin has been wrinkled, indicating that she has passed through many
difficulties and sorrows.
The speaker concludes visualizing that she is now bending down
beside the dying fire, and she tells herself in a whisper, in a regretful tone
that her true love has fled and is hiding his face amidst a crowd of stars.
Thus, the whole poem is the delineation of the intense feelings of a true
lover.

2. Comment on the usage of the time frame by the poet in ‘When You
Are Old’.
OR
‘The speaker addresses a young lady in her old age’. Comment on the
time sequence used by the poet.
OR
The speaker in ‘When You Are Old’ is not addressing an old lady.
Explain.

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Ans: ‘When You Are Old’ is a short love poem in which the poet uses a time
frame in which the speaker addresses his lady love in the present, takes her
to an unreal condition in the future, and asks her to recall her past
memories. He does so, in order to persuade her or warn her not to ignore
him and make a wrong decision.
The poet’s point of view is the most compelling point of the poem. The
narrator is calling upon a woman that is not yet through with youth to,
once past her prime, recall the days he was in her life and very much in love
with her. Obviously, he wants her to remember him for his unique and
unconditional love for her, and how she is choosing to ignore it in the
present. By writing this poem in this fashion, the woman, when the poet
hopes that she grows old, will remember the days when she was young with
happiness but will grow regretful that she did not take advantage of his
love.
Alternatively, the woman, in the present will see what an opportunity
she is missing by ignoring his love for her and leaving him to fade into the
past. The speaker fears that his lady love will not act upon his love for her
and that she will only remember him in the book of memories. He hopes
that if, once old, she puts down the book of memories, she will grow chilly
and sorrowful that she did not foresee how steadfast his love was but how
foolish she was for taking no notice of it. He is already fearful that she will
grow old without him, and this can be seen as he requests that she
remember him a ‘little sadly’ and as a missed chance to have a happy
future.
It is the time frame that the poet has used in this poem that facilitates
the poet to write this sad and reminiscent poem which is not designed
primarily to make an old woman regretful, but to keep a young woman from
ignoring the narrator and making the wrong decision.

3. ‘When You Are Old’ is a poem of contrasts. What purpose do they

serve?
Ans: ‘When You Are Old’ was written to show the true and unforgettable
love from the writer. The theme is a painful one of unrequited love, which
the poet manipulates in an interesting manner. Instead of focusing upon
the present or the past, Yeats looks to the future, a future in which the two
people in the poem are destined to be forever apart. The poet visualizes an
unreal condition that the woman he loved became old and felt regret for
refusing his true love.
To depict such a theme, the poet deploys elegant and quiet words and
builds pictures of contrasts:
In the first stanza, there is a contrast between her elegant youth and
her depressing old age. In the second stanza, there is a contrast between
her many suitors who professed superficial love and the speaker or the lover
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who promises true love for her. In the third stanza, there is a contrast
between the fleeting or transient love represented by her many suitors and
the personified love of the poet.
There is a contrast between ‘the sorrows of your changing face’ in the
second stanza and ‘murmur a little sadly’ of the third stanza. ‘The sorrows’
indicate passion or strong emotion is seen in young people and ‘little sadly’
reflects the listlessness of old people. There is a contrast between the
‘beauty and elegance’ sans her soul sought after by the suitors and the
‘pilgrim soul’ in the same lady cherished by the speaker. The many suitors
who wanted to court her were attracted by her superficial beauty whereas
this lover/speaker was attracted by her pilgrim soul, which symbolizes her
inner self. These contrasts serve to build a strong argument to persuade the
young lady not to ignore him now and regret later.
When You Are Old Additional Questions and Answers

4. The poem ‘When You Are Old’ conveys the message that true love is
indestructible and constant. Elucidate.
OR
The poem ‘When You Are Old’ brings out the feelings of eternal love.
Explain.
OR
‘True love is related to the soul but not to the physical beauty’. How is
this idea brought out in the poem ‘When You Are Old’?
OR
Whose love in ‘When You Are Old’ is immortal? How does the poem
present this?
Ans: ‘When You Are Old’ depicts the frustration and anxiety of a sincere
lover. At the same time, it also presents the concern of sincere love for the
future predicament of his lady love.
The lover’s frustration and anxiety for her future find expression only
because his love is genuine and constant. Though she has not responded to
his ‘love’, the lover does not want to give up his attempts to persuade her.
He tries to place before her a realistic, projected picture of her future only
because he knows that she will be old, infirm, and companionless as years
roll by. Furthermore, the poet seems to understand that she is not a flirt
and a worldly lady who loves to indulge in the pleasures of life but one who
has also been looking for someone who really loves her inner self more than
her physical charms. Only someone who has a similar state of mind, and
beliefs, and who is also yearning for a spiritual union with his lady love
alone can write so.
From this, one can infer that true love is indestructible and constant.
Had the speaker been interested in her physical charms only he would not
have bothered to foresee his own future as well as the predicament of his
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lady love some twenty years hence. Thus it can be argued that the poem
‘When You Are Old’ conveys the message that true love is indestructible and
constant and is not influenced by the vicissitudes of fortune.

5. “But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you”. How does the speaker
justify this?
OR
How does the poem distinguish the speaker’s love from that of others?
Ans: ‘When You are Old’ is a love poem in which the poet addresses his lady
love in the present, takes her to an unreal condition in the future, and asks
her to recall her past memories. He does so, in order to persuade her or
warn her not to ignore him and make a wrong decision. This timeframe is
the most compelling point of the poem because he wants her to remember
him for his unique and unconditional love for her.
The poet compares himself as a suitor with other suitors. He says, ‘but
one man loved the pilgrim soul in you’. He tries to distinguish himself from
all the other suitors who tried to woo her. He argues that all the other
suitors were only attracted by her physical and external beauty and
naturally they would be put off by her looks of old age and might stop
showing any interest in her. On the other hand, unlike other suitors, he
loved her not for her physical beauty but for her ‘pilgrim soul’.
The word ‘pilgrim soul’ has a reference to the biblical belief that every
soul is a pilgrim on the way to salvation and redemption. The speaker, by
referring to this aspect of the beloved rather than to her beauty and fame,
seeks oneness with the inner spiritual self and not the external self.

6. ‘When You Are Old’ makes the ‘beloved’ look back on her youth.
Discuss.
Ans: ‘When You Are Old’ is a short love poem in which the poet uses a time
frame in which the speaker addresses his lady love in the present, takes her
to an unreal condition in the future, and asks her to recall her past
memories. He does so in order to persuade her or warn her not to ignore
him and make a wrong decision.
The poet’s point of view is the most compelling point of the poem. The
narrator is calling upon a woman who is not yet through with youth to,
once past her prime, recall the days he was in her life and very much in love
with her. Obviously, he wants her to remember him for his unique and
unconditional love for her, and how she is choosing to ignore it in the
present. By writing this poem in this fashion, the woman, when the poet
hopes that she grows old, will remember the days when she was young with
happiness but will grow regretful that she did not take advantage of his
love.

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 Alternatively, the woman, in the present will see what an opportunity
she is missing by ignoring his love for her and leaving him to fade into the
past. The speaker fears that his lady love will not act upon his love for her
and that she will only remember him in the book of memories. He hopes
that if, once old, she puts down the book of memories, she will grow chilly
and sorrowful that she did not foresee how steadfast his love was but how
foolish she was for taking no notice of it. He is already fearful that she will
grow old without him, and this can be seen as he requests that she
remember him a ‘little sadly’ and as a missed chance to have a happy
future.
It is the time frame that the poet has used in this poem that facilitates
the poet to write this sad and reminiscent poem which is not designed
primarily to make an old woman regretful, but to keep a young woman from
ignoring the narrator and making the wrong decision.

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