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Friday, September 4, 2026

The Pilgrim Soul

  When You are Old by W B Yeats - notes and analysis

When you are old and gray 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.

 


 

18 comments:

  1. the tears that rise in my eyes while reading your beautiful heartfelt writing rich with depth immensely seem very different and special dear Susan 🥹
    reading this was stepping in my innate world and see how cleansing is being done just by reading your words 🥹
    ❤️🫂🥹🙏

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  2. hats off to your skills my wonderfully talented friend!

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  3. Beyond poignant and touching, Susan. Loved it!

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    Replies
    1. WB Yeats is the one author that I remember and enjoy.

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  4. Does that poem touch deep inside or what? Beautiful

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    1. WB Yeats was masterful in catching and creating .

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  5. This brought tears to my eyes. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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  6. Thanks for sharing the poem. It has been years since I've taken the time to enjoy poetry.

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  7. That is beautiful, normally I don't like poetry, it is too often convoluted and hard to understand any meaning in it, but this one is quite clear.

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    1. WB Yeats writes like that. You know what he is saying, and he says it so well.

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  8. It’s been too long since I simply sat and read poetry. Thank you, I needed this.

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    1. Same here. I need to open WB Yeats poetry again

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  9. Sure pulls at the emotions. Wonderfully written indeed.

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Go ahead...it won' t hurt...I'd love to hear what you think!