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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"When I'm old" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/170971/when-i%27m-old>.
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