When you are oldWhen 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 lookYour 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 fledAnd paced upon the mountainsoverheadAnd hid his face amid a crowd of stars.当你年老，鬓斑，睡意昏沉，在炉旁打盹时，取下这本书，慢慢诵读，梦忆从前你双眸神色柔和，眼波中倒影深深；多少人爱你风韵妩媚的时光，爱你的美丽出自假意或真情，但唯有一人爱你灵魂的至诚，爱你渐衰的脸上愁苦的风霜；弯下身子，在炽红的壁炉边，忧伤地低诉，爱神如何逃走，在头顶上的群山巅漫步闲游，把他的面孔隐没在繁星中间。
A Dearm of DeathW.B YeatsI dreamed that one had died in a strange placeNear no accustomed handAnd they had nailed the boards above her face,The peasants of that land, Wondering to lay her in that solitude, And raised above her moundA cross they had made out of two bits of wood,And planted eypress round;And left her to the indifferent stars aboveUntil I carved these words:She was more beautiful than thy first love,But now lies under boards我梦见一个人在陌生的地方死去，身边无亲无故他们钉了些木板将她的脸遮盖，那块土地上的农民，满怀诧异地将她安置在荒郊野岭，并在她坟顶竖起用两根木头交叉而成的十字架，四周栽满柏树，将她留给天上那无动于衷的星星，直到我刻下这些话：她曾经比你的初恋还要美丽，但现在却长眠于木板之下。
T he Song of the Happy ShepherdThe woods of Arcady aredead➀，And over is their antiquejoy；Of old the world ondreaming fed；Grey Truth is now herpainted toy➁；Yet still she turns her restless head：But O，sick children of theworld，Of all the many changing thingsIn dreary dancing past uswhirled，To the cracked tune thatChrono sings➂，Words alone are certain good.Where are now the warring kings，Word be-mockers? —Bythe rood，Where are now the warringkings?An idle word is now their glory，By the stammering schoolboy said，Reading some entangledstory:The kings of the old time are dead；The wandering earthherself may beOnly a sudden flaming word，In changing space a moment heard，Troubling the endlessreverie.Then nowise worship dusty deeds，Nor seek，for this is alsosooth，To hunger fiercely aftertruth，Lest all thy toiling only breedsNew dreams, new dreams;there is no truthSaving in thine own heart.Seek，then，No learning from the starry men，Who follow with the opticglassThe whirling ways of stars that pass—Seek，then，for this is also sooth，No word of theirs—the cold star-baneHas cloven and rent their hearts in twain，And dead is all theirhuman truth.Go gather by the humming seaSome twisted，echo-harbouring shell，And to its lips thy storytell，And they thy comforterswill be，Rewarding in melodious guileThy fretful words a little while，Till they shall singing fadein ruthAnd die a pearly brotherhood；For words alone are certain good:Sing，then，for this is alsosooth.I must be gone: there is agraveWhere daffodil and lily wave，And I would please the hapless faun，Buried under the sleepy ground，With mirthful songs beforethe dawn.His shouting days with mirth were crowned；And still I dream he treads the lawn，Walking ghostly in thedew，Pierced by my glad singingthrough，My songs of old earth's dreamy youth:But ah! she dreams notnow;dream thou!For fair are poppies on the brow:Dream，dream，for this is also sooth.➀ Arcady:阿卡狄：古希腊高原地区，相传是风俗淳朴的牧歌之乡。
➁ Grey Truth:灰色真理：指一般世俗的关于物质的真理。
在叶芝看来，世俗真理是相对的、暂时的，只有关于精神的真理才是绝对的、永恒的。
➂ Chrono:克罗诺斯：希腊文，时间。
快乐的牧人之歌阿卡狄的丛林已经消亡，古老的欢声也随之绝响；旧世已沉浸于迷梦，红尘仍绚丽而又彷徨；她依旧茫然四顾，可是啊，病弱的孩童，世间万物在不停地变动，在沉寂中飞舞如疾风，光阴之歌撕天裂地，此时无声胜有声。
上天在问，英雄豪杰今何在？你们嘲笑文章，只任武功。
英雄豪杰今何在？少儿传诵那跌宕的诗篇，困惑不解而随意地感叹：昔日英雄的光荣，如今都已成为过眼云烟；漂泊的大地也不过就是一颗划空一掠的流星，在浩瀚的宇宙留下一声叹息，惊扰了绵延无尽的梦境。
记住吧，不要盲目崇拜和信仰，英雄的功名尘与土，四海的真理多是空谈幻想，避免啊辛勤劳碌了一生，只是一场梦，梦一场，心中空空如野。
去寻找吧，但不要向占星家学习，他们不过拿着望远镜，观测银河生灭不息的繁星——去寻找吧，记住吧，不要相信他们——灾星的寒光已将他们的心劈成碎片，他们已在真理中死亡。
到那浅吟低唱的大海边吧，拾起一些螺旋、藏有回声的贝壳，将你的故事对其口边诉说，他们会与你义同断金，轻柔地抚慰你的心灵，用那美妙悠扬之曲，暂解你的烦思和忧情，直到其哀婉之音渐弱而消逝，此时无声胜有声：唱吧，唱吧，记住吧，我要走啦，那儿有一座孤坟，摇曳着水仙和百合，我将以欢乐之歌来报晓迎晨，使能悦于那个不幸的早已长眠在九泉下的牧神。
他呼喊的岁月充满欢乐，我依然能梦见他踏过草泽，像幽灵一样在露水中穿行，被我的欢歌回绕迁萦，我歌唱古老大地如梦的青春：可她已不再有梦，但梦在你身，山崖上罂粟花开得艳美，记住吧，有梦就会梦想成真。
Down by the Salley Gardens Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet；She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.She bid me take love easy，as the leaves grow on the tree；But I，being young and foolish，with her would not agree.In a field by the river my love and I did stand，And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.She bid me take life easy，as the grass grows on the weirs；But I was young and foolish，and now I'm full of tears.柳园里在柳园里，我和心爱的人相遇，她雪白的纤足伴我在柳园里往回。