The Coming of Wisdom with Time

This poem was only four lines long, but it had a message that is a lifetime long--that is, that I believe it is talking about the span of a person's life. The poem starts out with the first line being: "though leaves are many, the root is one." By this I believe the poet is trying to say that we has several perspectives in our life that change through the seasons and phases, but we always remain rooted to the ground as the same person with the same soul and conscience. In the last three lines, Yeats is pretty much reinforcing the first line: that in the days of his youth, he was the same tree, but had different leaves, but as he as a person matures, the leaves are changing to a new perspective more clear. I love this poem because it is short and sweet, but it tells a story all the same. I think it is a very different structure that creates a lot of draw and interest.