Analysis of When I'm old



I like people very much
It’s with myself I’m not in touch.
When I was young, I thought I would
When I grew old, be wise and good

I thought I’d learn and never make
Another thoughtless, dumb mistake,
But alas, so far, it is not true.
By the end of day, I’ve much to rue.

Old age is here, but perfection’s not
Blunders are made and lessons forgot.
If I live to a hundred, will I then be through
Repeating mistakes, and to myself be true?

Will I then guard closely the words I say?
And at last be astute at the end of my day?
The answer is out there for the future to tell
My only course of action is to try to live well.


Scheme AABB CCDD EEDD FFGG
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 1110101 1111101 11111111 11111101 11110101 01010101 101111111 101111111 1111111 101101001 111101011111 0100101111 1111100111 011101101111 010111101011 1101110111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 634
Words 139
Sentences 8
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 117
Words per stanza (avg) 32

About this poem

Just a fun rhyme reflecting what I so often feel when, still, in my old age, I've acted foolishly or made a poor decision.

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Written on September 24, 2023

Submitted by janet_1 on September 24, 2023

41 sec read
114

Janet Muirhead Hill

Janet Muirhead Hill is a novelist who occasionally writes poetry for fun and for self-expression. Her published books include the Miranda and Starlight series of horse stories for middle-grade readers and other fiction. more…

All Janet Muirhead Hill poems | Janet Muirhead Hill Books

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