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W. B. YEATS
W. B. Yeats (1865–1939) was an Irish poet and dramatist. A driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923, making him the first Irishman so honored. In the following poem, Yeats tells of an old man who recounts the beauty of his wife in her young age. But as her beauty faded and age took its toll, he loved her still.
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.