《当你老了》-朗诵 乔榛

When You Are Old

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.
When You Are Old

威廉·巴特勒·叶芝（1865-1939），爱尔兰诗人、剧作家和散文家，著名的神秘主义者，是“爱尔兰文艺复兴运动”的领袖，也是艾比剧院（Abbey Theatre）的创建者之一。《当你老了》是叶芝在1893年创作的一首献给女友茅德·冈的诗歌。1889年，叶芝结识了茅德·冈小姐，对她一见钟情，一生倾情，一生追求，无奈一生被拒绝。他的第一部剧本《凯丝琳女伯爵》（1892）就是以茅德·冈为原型而创作的。

茅德·冈（1866-1953），爱尔兰演员，女权运动家和爱尔兰独立分子，丈夫死于1916年复活节起义，儿子是诺贝尔和平奖获得者肖恩·麦克布赖德。