葉芝的詩英文版如下:
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 lookYour 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 fledAnd paced upon the mountains overheadAnd hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
葉芝簡介
威廉·巴特勒·葉芝(1865年6月13日~1939年1月28日),亦譯“葉慈”“耶茨”,愛爾蘭詩人、劇作家和散文家,著名的神秘主義者,是“愛爾蘭文藝復興運動”的領袖,也是艾比劇院(Abbey Theatre)的創建者之壹。
葉芝的詩受浪漫主義、唯美主義、神秘主義、象征主義和玄學詩的影響,演變出其獨特的風格。葉芝的藝術代表著英語詩從傳統到現代過渡的縮影。葉芝早年的創作具有浪漫主義的華麗風格,善於營造夢幻般的氛圍,在1893年出版的散文集《凱爾特的薄暮》,便屬於此風格。