Tobi in Ireland, near the grave of Yeats |
What is your wish for your writing? Do you want it to be a
commentary on our current times, or do you wish for it to be able to stand on
the page long after the drama of current events has moved on to become a
paragraph in the back of a history book?
Being “generic” is a way to ensure your work will be timeless, but that
does not mean it will be boring.
One of my favorite poems is “When You Are Old” by William
Butler Yeats.
When You Are Old
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.
This poem was written in 1892. It has stood the test of time
and I think it will still be timeless and lovely in 2092.
Does anything date this poem? Not the fire. Electricity had
been in homes for over fifteen years. We use fires today for warmth and comfort
— the fire in this poem is doing the same.
The first word of each line being capitalized is still used
by some poets today. The punctuation is correct. The rhyme is subtle and
correct.
![]() |
Poster courtesy of Writers & Authors |
The poem says “take down this book”. It doesn’t name the
book.
Did Yeats think about this while he was writing this
beautifully unself-conscious, sincere love poem? I don’t know. It is classic.
It certainly isn’t boring.
I want my poetry to stand the test of time, but I also like
specificity, so this is something I struggle with. I don’t write “he lit a
cigarette”, I write “he lit a Marlboro”. I don’t say “she flirted with the guy
at the old car show”, I say “she coyly bent her head from side to side/ keeping
time with her feet in their ballerina flats/ out in front of the black ’62 Chevy/
belonging to who she would later describe/ as “the hunk in the white t-shirt”.”
![]() |
Photo by Brigitte Werner |
Keep this in mind when you write, and be thoughtful. If you
write about war, you may want to leave it generic and not specify which war.
Likewise Presidents, musicians, television shows, some types of clothing,
current political hot issues, and so on.
“Take down this book”…
Tobi Alfier's most recent collection of poetry is Somewhere, Anywhere, Doesn't Matter Where. She is also co-editor with Jeff Alfier of the San Pedro River Review. Don't miss Tobi's columns on the craft of poetry: insert your email address in the "Follow By Email" box to the right of this article and you'll be notified every time a new article appears.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.