Analysis of Beautiful Old Age By D.H. Lawrence. This essay is on the subject matter, form, stlye and theme of the poem.

1.Subject Matter (Content)

"Beautiful Old Age" by D.H. Lawrence is a poem that describes old age. The author depicts old age as something that is "lovely", wonderful, calm and undisturbed.

We would feel as though we have completed most of our lives. We would have already fulfilled our duties as a man. We would have experienced the ups and downs of life and look forward to more settled days.

We would be happy in our old age if we had lived our lives with outmost honesty. A life "lived undaunted and unsoured with accepted lies." This would make us feel at peace with ourselves when we live through our old age.

Old people should be more relaxing and comforting. They have already grown tired of love. The peak of their lives is over. The spring and summer of their lives have passed and what is left for them is the peaceful autumn before the arrival of the harsh winter (death).

When we grow old, we become "richer". Not richer in material possessions but richer in experience. We would have lived through the trials and tribulations of life. We might have faced hardships along the way, but they help us to live a truly complete life. Our children would look at us in awe and respect.

2.Form(Type, Structure and Pattern)

This poem is a free verse poem. It is not under any category. The poem has a total of five stanzas but there is no definite number of sentences in each stanza. None of the sentences rhymes and thus cannot be read in a "song-song" manner. Instead the slow and steady pace, brings out the calm and quiet feelings of the old people.

In the first stanza, the sentences do not "run-on" but are "separate" in terms of meaning. However, from the second stanza onwards, the sentences "run-on" and cannot be separated. This would draw readers to continue reading the poem as they are eager to find out what the poet is really trying to express.

The first stanza describes the poets views on being old while the second stanza is about living an upright life with no regrets.The third stanza showed how old people feel.

In the last two stanzas of the poem, the poet uses a speech format to express how the children regard their aged parents. This enabled the poet to express what he wants to say clearer as he would be speaking from the children's point of view.

3.Style (Use of Language)

The poet expressed old age in a way that is fulfilled and contented. He isn't sad but neither is he very happy. He wrote the poem in a tone that expresses satisfaction, peacefulness rather than happiness. He used the phrases "fulfilment" and "completeness" to show that old people should feel contented.

He wrote the poem in a serious way rather than for amusement. He wanted to convey how old people felt about themselves.

The words the author used are not too complex and should be understandable to most people. The author managed to use simple words like "satisfaction", "completeness" to put across his complex feelings of slight loneliness and satisfaction of life.

The author expressed the contented feeling of the old aged to the "Fragrant like yellowing leaves, and dim with the soft stillness and satisfaction of autumn." Through the vivid descriptions, we are able to picture out autumn and feel the relax and comforting feelings the old people feel.

The poet used a few similes in this poem. He used the similes "ripen like apples", "scented like pippins" to compare how a person who accepted lies lived and felt when he was young and during his old age respectively. He also compared how soothing old people should be to apples.

The poet did use a few alliteration terms in this poem. The phrase "undaunted and unsoured" enhanced the effect of what the poet was trying to say about being an honest and upright person throughout our lives. Whereas, "stillness ad satisfaction" helps us to picture the peaceful and relax conditions old people live in.

The poet also used the adjectives "ripe" and "wrinkled" more than once in the poem. He probably used the word "wrinkled" give an impact on how old or experience the old people were. "ripe" was used to describe how settled and complete the old people were. They have already "ripen" like fruits and their "journey" almost complete.

4.Theme (Issues and Ideas)

The poet wrote this poem to show his longing to become as peaceful as an old man. He also wants to express how undisturbed and calm one would feel when he or she reached old age.

The poet thinks that old age is a lovely period of time. It is a time when we can truly enjoy our precious lives. After experiencing great ups and downs in life, it is the time to rest. There would be no more sudden bolts from the blue, we would just live our lives peacefully and harmoniously, letting it pass quietly.

We would be at peace, knowing that more than half of our lives has already passed. We would feel completed, a sense of fulfilment. We know that we had already fulfilled most of our duties.

The poet thinks we should live as an honest person, so as to be at peace with ourselves in our last years. We must be true to ourselves. Do not accept lies even if they are widely accepted as if we do that we would not be deceiving others but deceiving ourselves. Stick to your own beliefs and this way, you will live your life we no regrets.

Old people should be peaceful. They are tired of love, after living for many, many years. They would be calm, quite and relaxed like the autumn season as they probably have seen through all aspects of lives.

Our children would look at us in respect. They would respect our age and what it stands for- experience, wisdom and knowledge. They would see the wrinkles on our face as signs or scars that shows that we have braved all weathers in our lives and that they have much to learn from us.

5. Reactions (Personal Response)

I agree with the poet that old age is lovely only to a certain extent. Only under the correct circumstances, will old age be enjoyable. First of all, we must have children or even better, grandchildren. Old age is peaceful, but it can also be very lonely. However, with young kids, we would be able to get immense satisfaction, and at the same time, relieve our loneliness by spending our last years with them. We must also need to have money. This way, we would be able to retire and not have to worry if our job will still be there the next morning.

The poet is probably a righteous person, but also a stubborn one. He does not accept lies. However, sometimes, lies must be told for the sake of a greater cause. He should be more open-minded and accept some white lies.

The poet has been very successful in conveying his ideas and emotions. He used alliterations like "undaunted and unsoured" to express his strong rejections of all lies. He also used vivid descriptions like "Fragrant like yellowing leaves, and dim with the soft stillness and satisfaction of autumn" to show the feelings of the old people. Through the slow pace of the poem and the usage of words like "wrinkled", we are also able to detect the calm emotions the poet is expressing.

The poem is quite thought provoking. It makes me think about what our old age will be like. Would I have an enjoyable old age as in described by the poem? Would I have really no regrets at the end of my life?

Overall, this is a quite enjoyable and meaningful poem. It describes the calm feelings of the old aged. There is not much sadness in this story and thus makes it more enjoyable to read.