Yeats and Sadness

I have a favorite poem from Yeats. As I write my current story about love and loss, I can't help hearing it in my mind. It really hits the mark, and contains all of that sadness that I'm looking to capture. Life is all about this type of sadness...unrequited love, missed opportunities, failures. Now if I can just convince my character that he doesn't have to hide his face amid a crowd of stars I'll be on to something. Anyways, here it is in all of its glory...

(Man, I really dig this guy's stuff.)

"When You Are Old"

When you are old and gray and full of sleep,

And nodding by the fire, take down this book,

And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

Your 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 fled

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face among a crowd of stars.