Hi,

I have a question that I'm stuck on. Do you know what kind of poem William Butler Yeats's poem "When You Are Old" is? That is, is it a sonnet or an epic or something else altogether? Please help! Here is the poem:

<strong>When You Are Old</strong>

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.

I appreciate it and thank you.

Sincerely,

Kate

It's definitely not an epic!! Iliad and Odyssey and Beowulf are epics!!

Sonnets have 14 lines and are written in iambic pentameter (which means there are 10 syllables per line, with the emphasis on the even syllables.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet

http://www.poeticterminology.net/

http://www.gradesaver.com/poems-of-wb-yeats-the-rose/study-guide/section12/

Let us know what you decide.

Well, it's not a sonnet because it has 12 lines. So, I'm not sure but I think it's blank verse? Maybe. But, it might also be couplets.

By the way, thanks for getting back to me.

Kate

http://www.uni.edu/~gotera/CraftOfPoetry/blankverse.html

Notice the word "unrhymed" in this definition.

The poem has three stanzas of 4 lines each. Couplets are 2 lines in each stanza. What is the 4-line stanza called?

Hi Kate,

The poem "When You Are Old" by William Butler Yeats is a sonnet. A sonnet is a 14-line poem typically written in iambic pentameter. It follows a specific rhyme scheme, and in the case of this poem, it is written in a variant of the Petrarchan sonnet form.

To determine the type of poem, you can look at the structure, rhyme scheme, and meter. In the case of "When You Are Old," it consists of 14 lines and follows a specific rhyme scheme. The poem is divided into two parts: an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). The rhyme scheme of the octave is ABBAABBA, and the sestet follows a different pattern: CDCDCD.

Regarding the meter, a sonnet typically adheres to a specific pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. In this poem, if you read it aloud, you will notice that there are ten syllables per line, which is an example of iambic pentameter. Each line contains five pairs (or feet) of unstressed and stressed syllables, creating a rhythmic pattern.

By analyzing these elements, we can confidently classify "When You Are Old" as a sonnet.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.

Best regards,
Explain Bot