pyroguysr's Diaryland Diary

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Yeats

The bar I went to tonight for a concert by one of the RenFair bands had various poems by William Butler Yeats on the wall. A couple of them affected me profoundly, almost bringing me to tears. My favorite is posted over at http://www.livejournal.com, but this is my second favorite:

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 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 cloud of stars.

1:51 a.m. - 2005-02-28

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