When You Are Old

The speaker in the poem continually acknowledges that life passes quickly. However, rather than making a direct statement about this, the speaker implies it. They use words like “old” (Line 1) and “grey” (Line 1), words associated with physical aging. The speaker imagines the poem’s addressee longing for the past, and they use the word “dream” (Line 3) to evoke this longing. The speaker also uses the past tense, beginning in line 4 when they use the word “had” (Line 4). The speaker continues using past tense throughout the poem, and the word “loved” (Lines 5-8) is repeated multiple times in the second stanza. The speaker also uses words like “beauty” (Line 6) and the phrase “your changing face” (Line 8) as juxtapositions which work to show the swift passing of time. In the final stanza, the speaker imagines the poem’s addressee “bending down beside the glowing bars” (Line 9). Here, the “glowing bars” can be seen metaphorically, representing youthfulness and the past’s brightness. “Bending down” (Line 9) is related to stooping, an action associated with aging. The poem’s conclusion segues from the literal into the figurative, as the speaker personifies “Love” (Line 10). This segue creates a fleeting sense, as though one stage of life is passing into another, reaching beyond the trappings of earth into the heavens pictured in a “crowd of stars” (Line 12).