An aged man is but a paltry thing

An aged man is but a paltry thing - a tattered coat upon a stick. (Sailing to Byzantium)

The thing I love about Yeats, his profound and strangely appealing grasp of age and mutability.

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..


These days, I sit, nodding by the fire, and look over at my darling, and these words are so true and so right and so of this time.

5 comments:

Jim Baxter said...

I prefer Larkin's take on ageing:

'Groping back to bed after a piss...'

But then I have a bald head, forgetful of my sins.

Jalopy said...

I click to comment on this to say how lovely it was and I find you here quoting piss...

Jim Baxter said...

That's me. A fine piece of heartfelt romanticism and I just have to lower the tone. Me and Larkin.

The good news is this:

http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=y5ZiULVwup0

Jalopy said...

I love that :-) Thanks!

Clams Linguini said...

Aw, get a room, all of you.