When you are old | When you are old and gray and full of sleep

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

When you are old and gray and full of...

Language: English

Our translations: CHI FRE GER HUN ITA

When you are old and gray 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.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• G. Bachlund • G. Baxter • F. Bridge • P. Sacco • I. Venables • S. Wilkinson

G. Bachlund sets stanzas 1-2
F. Bridge sets stanzas 1-2

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with The Poetical Works of William B. Yeats in two volumes, volume 1 : Lyrical Poems, The Macmillan Company, New York and London, 1906, page 179. Note: this poem is often described as a free adaptation of Ronsard's Quand vous serez bien vieille.

Text Authorship:

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "When you are old", appears in The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics, appears in The Rose, first published 1892 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The Pilgrim Soul", 1999, stanzas 1-2 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Garth Baxter (b. 1946), "When you are old" [ voice and piano ], from Four Views of Love, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), "When you are old", 1919, published 1920, stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Doreen Droste , "When you are old", published 1968 [ SATB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard B. Evans , "When you are old and grey", from In the deep heart's core [sung text not yet checked]
by John Fearing , "When you are old", published 1968 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "When you are old and grey", c1909 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Ben Moore (b. 1960), "When you are old" [ voice and piano ], from Eight Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Walter Byron Mourant (1910 - 1995), "When you are old" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "When You Are Old And Grey", op. 531 (1959) [sung text not yet checked]
by Vittorio Rieti (1898 - 1994), "When you are old (A barcarolle)", published 1964 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Two Songs Between Two Waltzes, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Tom Vernon Ritchie (b. 1922), "When you are old and gray" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by P(atrick) Peter Sacco (b. 1928), "When you are old", published 1971 [ voice and piano ], Western International Music [sung text checked 1 time]
by Rick Sowash (b. 1950), "When you are old and grey", 1973 [ STB chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
by John Kenneth Tavener (1944 - 2013), "When you are old", 1984 [ soprano and piano ], from Song Cycle for Gina, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ian Venables (b. 1955), "When you are Old", op. 38 no. 5 (2006), first performed 2006 [ tenor, clarinet, piano ], from On The Wings of Love, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Raymond Warren (b. 1928), "When you are old", 1965 [ tenor and guitar ], from The Pity of Love [sung text not yet checked]
by Graham Whettam (b. 1927), "When you are old", rev. 1973, first performed 1967 [ high voice and piano ], from Three Songs to Poems of W. B. Yeats, note: name of song cycle was originally Three Songs from "The Rose" [sung text not yet checked]
by Stephen Wilkinson (b. 1919), "Maude Gonne takes down a book" [ voice and piano ], from Eternal Summer, no. 10 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Yehudi Wyner (b. 1929), "When you are old" [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this page: Garth Baxter

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 100

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