When You Are Old

“The Circus Animals’ Desertion” by William Butler Yeats (1939)

Published in 1939 in Yeats’s Last Poems, “The Circus Animals’ Desertion” consists of three parts and is an ottava rima, a rhyming form of Italian poetry typically focusing on heroic themes. Like “When You Are Old,” “The Circus Animals’ Desertion” is a remembrance of the past. However, the speaker of the past focuses on artistic loss rather than romantic loss. As a contrast, the poem is noted as a withdrawal from Modernist themes, and the subject matter of Yeats’s earlier work. Throughout the poem, the speaker processes their inability to write and the inhibitions writer’s block has placed on the speaker. The poem also incorporates references to The Countess Cathleen, who appeared in Yeats’s earlier poem and is based on Maud Gonne. Like “When You Are Old,” the poem’s tone is introspective.

“After Apple-Picking” by Robert Frost (1914)

Written by American poet Robert Frost and consisting of 42 lines, “After Apple-Picking” portrays a pastoral scene. Like “When You Are Old” and many of Yeats’s other poems, “After Apple-Picking” incorporates not only a nostalgic tone, but also a reflective, introspective one as the speaker meditates before sleep.