If you delve into the works of W. B. Yeats, you'll inevitably encounter his deep and painful obsession with Maud Gonne — the Irish actress and activist who repeatedly turned him down. At the core of that fixation are two short poems from the 1890s: **"He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven"** (1899) and **"When You Are Old"** (1893). It makes sense to examine them together since they express essentially the same sentiment from different perspectives. "Cloths of Heaven" is immediate and raw: the speaker stands before her, offering all he has, which turns out to be nothing but his own vulnerability. In contrast, "When You Are Old" takes a cooler, more calculated approach — the speaker fast-forwards to her old age and allows the future to cast judgment. One poem pleads; the other forecasts. Together, they capture the full emotional spectrum of unrequited love: the desperate gift and the quiet, long-term reproach. Both are short, both are beautiful, and both are directed at the same woman who remained unaffected by either. **These two poems are like two weapons from the same arsenal — one a white flag, the other a slow-burning fuse.**
The Reader's Atlas · Compare
He Wishes for the Cloths of HeavenWhen You Are Old
If you delve into the works of W. B.
Poets
W. B. Yeats
Years
1899 / 1893
§01 The thesis
He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven & When You Are Old
A reader's case for putting these two side by side — what each carries, and what they argue when they sit on the same page.
§02 The dialectic axes
The two poems on four axes
Each axis isolates one specific vector — speaker, form, image, closing move — and reads the two poems against each other on that single dimension.
Axis
Poem A
He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
W. B. Yeats
Poem B
When You Are Old
W. B. Yeats
01Speaker
Poem A · He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
The speaker in "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" expresses a deep sense of powerlessness. He starts with a lofty desire for the embroidered light of the heavens but quickly brings it down to earth by acknowledging his poverty and the fact that he only has dreams. By the end of the poem, instead of seeking love, he is pleading for mercy.
Poem B · When You Are Old
The speaker in "When You Are Old" maintains a dominant perspective throughout. He speaks to her with a sense of foresight, sharing what she will think and feel. By the end, he has effectively distanced himself from her, becoming part of a vast cosmic landscape that she can only admire from below.
02Form
Poem A · He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
Eight lines, no stanza break, one long exhale. The phrase "I have spread" resonates with the earlier "I would spread," merging the hypothetical with the real in a single breath. This form embodies the poem's emotional logic: there’s no pause, no way out.
Poem B · When You Are Old
Three quatrains in loose iambic pentameter capture distinct stages: her old age, the tension between false admirers and genuine love, and, ultimately, love's departure. The stanza breaks lend the poem a deliberate, almost analytical tone — grief laid out as if it were evidence.
03Central Image
Poem A · He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
The cloths of heaven — blue, dim, dark, and embroidered with gold and silver light — are the only image in the poem, and they are quickly given up. The speaker exchanges this celestial fabric for something much more delicate: the invisible, crushable essence of dreams laid out on the ground.
Poem B · When You Are Old
The main image shows an old woman nodding by a fire, with a book resting in her lap. It feels both homey and a bit sad. In contrast to the quiet warmth of the fire, the final image of love wandering mountain peaks and concealing itself among the stars seems vast — and intentionally beyond her grasp.
04Closing Move
Poem A · He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
"Tread softly because you tread on my dreams" expresses a deep vulnerability. The speaker concludes by relying entirely on her compassion. The last word is "dreams" — not love, not hope, but that delicate inner world he has already exposed and cannot reclaim.
Poem B · When You Are Old
"And hid his face amid a crowd of stars" signifies a retreat. Love—almost mythological and personified—turns away from her and vanishes into the sky. The speaker doesn’t plead; he merely reveals the void where devotion once existed.
§03 Synthesis & departure
The shared ground and the divergence
Shared
Both poems originate from Yeats's early Romantic period, created within six years of each other during his fervent pursuit of Maud Gonne. They are both short lyric poems—eight and twelve lines long, respectively—and each addresses a "you" who unmistakably refers to Gonne. The absence of her name in either poem lends them a sense of universality that has allowed them to endure in classrooms and anthologies for over a century.
Thematically, both poems explore a shared pain: a love that is wholeheartedly offered yet poorly received. They also manipulate time structurally; "Cloths of Heaven" condenses time into a single hypothetical moment, while "When You Are Old" expands it over a lifetime. In both instances, the speaker presents himself as the one who truly understands the beloved—not just her outward beauty but something more profound and delicate. Ultimately, both poems conclude with a sense of loss: dreams that can be trampled underfoot, love that retreats to the mountains and conceals itself among the stars.
Where they diverge
The most noticeable difference lies in posture. "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" has no armor at all. The speaker acknowledges his poverty, discarding any imagined grandeur, and presents himself in complete vulnerability: "I have spread my dreams under your feet." There’s no tactic here, just surrender. The poem pleads for tenderness but receives nothing in return.
Conversely, "When You Are Old" takes a different approach. Yeats frames it as a directive — "take down this book," "slowly read," "murmur" — and the speaker doesn’t show the same level of vulnerability. He has already stepped away; he’s the man love left behind, wandering the mountains above. The poem’s closing image places him among the stars, distant and untouchable, while she remains alone by a dying fire. This isn’t vulnerability — it’s a form of elegant revenge. In terms of structure, "Cloths of Heaven" flows as a single continuous wave of emotion without stanza breaks, whereas "When You Are Old" is divided into three tidy quatrains, reflecting the poem's cooler, more measured emotional tone.
§04 A reader's order of operations
Which to read first
If you start with **"He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven"** and find yourself wanting more Yeats, check out **"When You Are Old"** next. This poem reveals what happens when Yeats steps back from raw emotion and begins to craft his feelings into shape. The vulnerability remains, but it takes on a different role—it's colder, more structured, and, in some ways, even more heartbreaking. On the other hand, if you begin with **"When You Are Old"** and seek the unfiltered Yeats, **"Cloths of Heaven"** will truly stop you in your tracks. It's just eight lines, yet it carries a tremendous weight.
§05 Reader's questions
On He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven vs When You Are Old, frequently asked
Answer
"When You Are Old" was published in 1893, six years before "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven," which came out in 1899. Both poems were created during Yeats's long and mostly unreturned love for Maud Gonne.
Answer
Yes, often. They fit well in courses about Romantic lyric poetry, unrequited love as a theme in literature, and the early works of Yeats. Their common biographical backgrounds and differing emotional approaches make them perfect for detailed comparison.
Answer
From "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven," the most famous line is the last one: "Tread softly because you tread on my dreams." In "When You Are Old," it's "But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you" — a line that has become iconic, resonating far beyond the poem itself.
Answer
There is no direct response recorded for either poem. Gonne knew about Yeats's devotion and stayed a close friend and collaborator throughout her life, but she repeatedly turned down his marriage proposals—the last one arriving as late as 1916.
Answer
Yes. Yeats loosely adapted it from a sonnet by the French Renaissance poet Pierre de Ronsard, titled "Quand vous serez bien vieille." The poem shares a similar theme of an older woman reading by the fire and regretting a love she once overlooked.
Answer
Both poems are distinctly early Yeats, rooted in the Celtic Twilight and Romantic period that characterized his work in the 1890s. After 1910, his style changed significantly, adopting a more stark and political tone, which makes these two poems stand out with their rich symbolism and lush language.
Answer
"He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" is a concise eight-line poem, and its shortness adds to its impact — it builds, shifts, and delivers a gut-punch in just one breath. In contrast, "When You Are Old," with twelve lines, creates a complete scene before zooming out to a cosmic perspective, giving it a more layered and gradual effect.