When You are Old (Jocelyn)

When You are Old   

by W. B. Yeats

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.

Objectives (Secondary 3 (NA/EXP) students) :  
Students will be able to identify the tone of a poem
Students will be able to identify the techniques through which tone is conveyed
Students will be able to relate tone and theme

1. What do you think the speaker feels in this poem?
This question allows students to reflect on the attitude of the speaker in this poem . The speaker’s point of view would be taken into consideration by the students. They will then be able to understand what the speaker feels towards the subject in the poem.

2. What are the reasons for such feelings?
In this next question, students will then take a deeper consideration as to why the speaker possesses such feelings towards the subject and fate itself. Students will then be able to understand that the subject mentioned in the poem is of great importance and significance to the speaker.   

3. Pick out examples of figures of speech in the poem. What effect does the poet gain by using such figures of  speech?
By getting students to pick out the various figures of speech such as diction, choice of words and imagery, they can see how the speaker tries to portray the subject in a positive light and also how the speaker shows one’s affections and longings towards the the subject. Students hence see how tone can be conveyed through these figures of speech.

4. How does tone help you understand the main themes in this poem?
The scaffolding questions above allows students to relate tone to the main themes found in this poem.  Some main themes include enduring love and loss.