Poetry is a form of literature that can be characterized by rhythm. The poem can be short or long. There is no limit to the themes a poet can use for their poetry. A poem can be about animals, nature and a common theme, love. The two poems that will be discussed in the article have the theme of love in common. While one poem talks about love for a woman, the other explains what love is in general. These two poems are “When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats and “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds” by none other than William Shakespeare. In our first poem, “When You Are Old,” Yeats uses his aesthetic language to rhyme about the love of a woman he addresses. She begins her poem by telling her that when she is "old and gray and sleepy" and sitting by a fireplace, reading a book, she will dream of the "sweet look her eyes once had" as a younger woman. (Yeats 600) She goes on to express how many men have loved her in her “moments of joyful grace” that a young woman can possess. (Yeats 600) There were men who looked beyond her beauty and expressed true love and there were those who did not look at her inner beauty but her outer beauty with “false love.” (Yeats 600) But there is a man, William Butler Yeats, who loved the search, "the pilgrim soul in [her]", and embraced and "loved the pangs of [her] changing face" as he lost his youthful beauty. (600) As Yeats concludes his poem and the woman stands by the "burning bars," by the fireplace, she "murmurs, a little sadly," how love has escaped her and "hid her face amid a crowd of stars", which are always beautiful to see. (600) Men's love for her will fade along with her beauty. As mentioned above, this poem was written for a woman he loved. She was beautiful... middle of paper... love. Although it is interesting how both love poems use this star as symbolism. Symbolism is also presented in love poems. The reader can imagine an old, gray woman sitting by the fire, nodding as she reads a book or a crowd of stars. There are not many images in the sonnet, but "rosy lips and cheeks" can be visualized. (Shakespeare 616) Reading both poems gives me a better idea of ​​what love is, but many will never understand what love truly is. Love is a timeless and universal theme used for poems and is different for every single person. However, when reading different love poems, a comparison can be found between them, beyond the obvious theme of love, such as the two poems discussed. I have found that love poems are easier to interpret, but the theme is difficult to understand. Roberts, V. Edgar, "Literature", Third Ed. New Jersey 2005