I think that if we put these two back-to-back, we can get something out of it.
When You Are Old
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.
A Marriage
Robert Creeley
The first retainer
he gave to her
was a golden
wedding ring.
The second—late at night
he woke up,
leaned over on an elbow,
and kissed her.
The third and the last—
he died with
and gave up loving
and lived with her.
