(1 point) While both poems express a theme about the passage of time and legacy, only “When You Are Old” has a theme about the enduring nature of true love and the appreciation of deep connection.
When I Have Passed Away
by Claude McKay
When I have passed away and am forgotten,
And no one living can recall my face,
When under alien sod my bones lie rotten
With not a tree or stone to mark the place;
Perchance a pensive youth, with passion burning,
For olden verse that smacks of love and wine,
The musty pages of old volumes turning,
May light upon a little song of mine,
And he may softly hum the tune and wonder
Who wrote the verses in the long ago;
Or he may sit him down awhile to ponder
Upon the simple words that touch him so.
“When I Have Passed Away” by Claude McKay
When You Are Old
by W. B. 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.
"When You Are Old" by W. B. Yeats
Question
Use the poem “When I Have Passed Away” by Claude McKay and the poem “When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats to answer the question.
Select the correct answers from the lists.
(1 point)
While both poems express a theme about
, only “When You Are Old” has a theme about the
.
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1 answer