When you are old
William Butler Yeats
When you are old and gray 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.
The day i went to Monticello, i met an old couple. The tour bus drove us up the hill. When they were about to get off the bus, the man who was behind his wife in the line, stepped forward and got off first.Then, he turned around, offered his hand out towards his wife and nodded. She smiled and held his hand. The silence scene was more powerful than any word. It is the most beautiful smile i've ever seen.
Living in the modern society, people seem to forget what really matters in our life. I was staggered by the high divorce rate worldwide. Once i talked with an American professor and asked him about this. "Aren't the American serious about love and family? Why can't relationship last long?" He said that the Americans cared too much about love and family and once they found it was not their true love they would leave each other without hesitation. It is too important? Is it a reason or an excuse? I don't know.Back in China, I see sweet couples on campus, hanging out happily or breaking up and get more and more confused about what love is. Maybe we all don't know what love is and only don't want to be alone. But does being alone equal lonely? I don't know.
I wanted to talk with the old couple but decided not to.I watched them strolling the path of Monticello hand in hand. Once pick up one's hand, never let it go easily.Maybe,maybe.