May 05, 2011

This Pilgrim Soul Turns 31

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 crowd of stars.


~William Butler Yeats


Source: The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats (1989)

4 comments:

  1. You're a pup! Have a happy birthday!

    "Though much is taken, much abides; and though
    We are not now that strength which in old days
    Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
    One equal temper of heroic hearts,
    Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
    To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."



    Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1833

    Sike! You're just coming into your own.

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  2. Thanks, Bill = )

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  3. Happy birthday, Sandra!

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  4. Anonymous1:59 PM

    Gah! 31 is NOT old...it can't be! I'M 31! (Now I will go cry in a corner...)

    All jokes aside, Happy Birthday!

    -Barry Napier
    www.barrynapierwriting.wordpress.com

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