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A Close Read of Poetic Art

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Mr. William Butler Yeats was not only a poet and playwright who composed lyrics. He wrote these to his muse, who was married to someone else just like he himself was according to research. Even so, he dedicated this poetry to his inamorata and his use of figurative language contributes to the overall effect of the poem by revealing his heart of hearts. True love and the passage of time are the major themes of his collection of verses, which are embedded with connotative meaning. This explication, though, will canvass the various types of thematic significance in his art.
First, his lyric poem "When You Are Old" from the 1890's is a duodecet that he had organized into three simple quatrains that contain several kinds of repetition. One example includes the emphasis of the word "and" in each stanza. There is also alliteration in the fifth line of verse, e.g. "glad grace" and this implies youthfulness or characteristics that are associated with being young(ish) or young at heart. Furthermore, there is perfect and end rhyme in all of the segments. There is additionally consonance in this douzain, such as "bending down beside the glowing bars" in the ninth verse.
Another stylistic device that the author uses involves imagery, such as tropes and other descriptive verbiage. In the introduction, there is metonymy and symbolism. Indeed, the image "grey" in the initial clause signifies old age or the elderly. Likewise, the "fire" in the next basic unit represents love and the book is a symbol for their memories at large. Finally, their "shadows deep" in the conclusion of the beginning is a metaphor that connotates depression.
In addition, there is the metaphorical phrase "pilgrim soul" in verse seven that accounts for the boredom of his true love and/or her desire to be independent or uninterrupted. Moreover, there is the personification of love towards the end of the piece. Of course, this comparison refers to the persona himself and the "crowd of stars" in the last line is an additional allegory that points to the lust of the men who only care about the woman's looks and/or outward appearance in general.
In summary, the figures of speech contribute to the overall effect of this metrical composition by revealing the speaker's love for the apple of his eye. In fact, the rhetorical devices in poetic paragraphs one through three make it clear that he loves this female unconditionally. He even asks her a rhetorical question in the second heroic stanza and he answers it in the form of an epiphany in the third stave. In particular, he inquires about how many of her pursuers truly love her like he does and how many of these just want to use or manipulate her because of her salient qualities. Nonetheless, he comes to the realization that he cannot make her love him and her rejection is really not about him after all.

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