As an autobiographical poem, this piece focuses on a character who is an extension of the poet. The speaker is described as a “sixty-year-old smiling public man” (Line 8) — a reference to Yeats’ sentatorship — and a “scarecrow” (Line 32), a reference to his decaying age. He recognises that he’s coming to the twilight of his life and, in the face of a classroom full of youth, is navigating the uncertainty of mortality. Through the speaker Yeats expresses his lingering infatuation with the love of his younger years, whom he sees in the faces of the young girls. As the poem progresses, the speaker considers the value of his life experience and his relationship with his art, making peace with his advanced age.