The narrator of this poem asks an old women to read a book of memories and recall how beautiful she once was and what love he had for her. The first stanza starts off very peaceful creating a very cozy image of dozing off next to a warm fire and dreaming of your youthful years. This type of imagery puts the reader in a very comfortable state. In the second stanza he asks the woman to recount all the people who loved her in her past both “false or true.” However, he then asks her to recall one particular man who “loved the pilgrim soul in [her] and loved the sorrows of [her] changing face.” It seems the narrator is talking about his own past and that he loved this woman even when her beauty started to fade. He didn’t just love her for her beauty, he found something special about her soul that made his love last for her. Things do not seem quite apparent yet where things are going, however, in the last stanza everything is revealed. The tone changes from comfortable memories to sad and regretful memories. It becomes apparent that this woman never took advantage of his special love for her and as the years moved on his love was ignored. His love for her “hid amid a crowd of stars.”
This poem is to not only make the old woman feel regretful for not taking advantage of this man’s passionate love for her but also to send a message out to present people. He is opening people’s eyes to what they would be missing if they ignored someone’s love for them and how much regret they would feel when they are older if they continued to ignore love and that they should take advantage of it. At the end it seems the narrator has lost hope and that the old woman will only remember him “a little sadly” and she will continue to grow old without him and has only her memory book to remember him by.
This poem that started off peaceful and reminiscent quickly turns into a sorrowful and regretful recollection. However, the main point of this poem is to keep people from making the wrong decision and living a future full of regrets. He wants to keep people from make the same mistake the old woman made.
