Readin' in the Rain

Keeping up with my commitment to read Yeats and other good literature during commutes was not a problem until the bone chilling cold weather set in over the last two days.  My already sensitive hands wanted nothing more than to retreat into fleece pockets, each taking turns holding the umbrella from an icy rain. That doesn't leave a lot of skin and bone willing to hold a book.

It’s too early to be so cold, I kept repeating while waiting for a bus, any bus, the frequency of which decreases with each degree in temperature.  However, as mentioned in a previous post, I remembered the Yeats I memorized while standing in freezing rain waiting for the DART.  So the one free hand took out the book and it flipped to one of my favorite poems. 

What I love most about this poem is its simple, straightforwardness but also the way it sings. I used to think that this poem spoke only about loved ones, but as I age along with the seasons, this poem is really about beautiful love in the form of kindness and friendship.

When You Are Old

by William Butler Yeats

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