Poetry  |  Yeats  |  Seven Woods  |  The Old Men Admiring themselves in the Water

Seven Woods — The Old Men Admiring themselves in the Water

I heard the old, old men say,
‘Everything alters,
And one by one we drop away.’
They had hands like claws, and their knees
Were twisted like the old thorn-trees
By the waters.
I heard the old, old men say,
‘All that’s beautiful drifts away
Like the waters.’