年轻是小诗、中年是散文诗，老了是史诗。
《当你老了》是英国诗人威廉·巴特勒·叶芝于1893年创做的一首诗篇，是他献给女友毛特·冈妮强烈热闹而真诚的恋爱诗篇。原文如下：
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。
当你年老岁月将近鹤发苍苍 ，
困倦的坐在炉边取下那本书，
深思漫想，陷进往事的回忆，
你一度昔时的柔情与美彩缤纷，
几人爱你好景不常的身影，
爱你的容貌于虚情假意之中，
只要一人爱你如朝拜的神圣，
爱你不因岁月无情至始所末。
在炉罩边你低眉哈腰，
忧戚深思，喃喃而语，
爱是若何飞上高山之顶，
隐躲于寡星罗布之间，脸蛋难觅！