When you are old
当你老了
William Butler Yeats ——威廉·巴特勒·叶芝
When you are old and grey and full of sleep, 当你老了，头发花白，睡意沉沉，
And nodding by the fire，take down this book, 倦坐在炉边，取下这本书来，
And slowly read,and dream of the soft look 慢慢读着，追梦当年的眼神
Your eyes had once,and of their shadows deep; 你那柔美的神采与深幽的晕影。
How many loved your moments of glad grace, 多少人爱过你昙花一现的身影，
And loved your beauty with love false or true, 爱过你的美貌，以虚伪或真情，
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you 惟独一人曾爱你那朝圣者的心，
And loved the sorrows of your changing face; 爱你哀戚的脸上岁月的留痕。
And bending down beside the glowing bars, 在炉罩边低眉弯腰，
Murmur,a little sadly,how Love fled 忧戚沉思，喃喃而语，
And paced upon the mountains overhead 爱情是怎样逝去，又怎样步上群山，
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars. 怎样在繁星之间藏住了脸
叶芝在23岁时就对驻爱尔兰英军上校的女儿茅特·冈一见钟情，从此苦恋一生，为其写了许多的诗歌和戏剧。茅特·冈容貌气质绝佳，热心政治，对叶芝虽然好感但从未到达爱的程度，且理性清明，认为两人无论性情还是志向都不合适，多次拒绝叶芝的求婚。后来她献身爱尔兰民族自治运动。叶芝为了追求她，也一度卷入他并不擅长的政治事务，可见其深情。
叶芝对茅德·冈的爱情终生不渝。《当你老了》是威廉·巴特勒·叶芝于1893年创作的一首诗歌，是叶芝献给茅德·冈热烈而真挚的爱情诗篇。
下面还有两首叶芝的诗，一起来欣赏吧。
Reconciliation
和解
Some may have blamed you that you took away 有人会怪你在那天夺走了
The verses that could move them on the day 本该感动他们的诗句，
When, the ears being deafened, the sight of the eyes blind 当时，雷霆闪电先夺走我的视听，
With lightning, you went from me, and I could find 因你离我而去。我便寻不到了
Nothing to make a song about but kings, 诗歌的主题，除了写些君王、
Helmets, and swords, and half-forgotten things 盔甲与刀剑，都是些快被忘尽的事情
That were like memories of you—but now ——一如对你的记忆。而此刻，
We'll out, for the world lives as long ago; 我们自曝于人，因世界如昨，
And while we're in our laughing, weeping fit, 我们在哭笑中发作，
Hurl helmets, crowns, and swords into the pit. 把盔甲、王冠、刀剑通通扔掉。
But, dear, cling close to me;since you were gone, 可是，我爱的人啊，靠紧我，自你去后，
My barren thoughts have chilled me to the bone. 我荒芜的思绪一直冷到骨骼。
A Deep-Sworn Vow
深沉的誓言
Others because you did not keep 因你未守那深沉的誓言，
That deep-sworn vow have been friends of mine; 别人便与我相恋；
Yet always when I look death in the face, 但每每，在我面对死神的时候，
When I clamber to the heights of sleep, 在我睡到最酣的时候，
Or when I grow excited with wine, 在我纵酒狂欢的时候，
Suddenly I meet your face. 总会突然遇到你的脸。
