poem Discussion: You Are Old, Father William

Does anyone else wet their pants because of excessive laughter while reading this poem? This is a serious question...


You Are Old, Father William

"You are old, father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head--
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

"In my youth," father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."

"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And you have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door--
Pray what is the reason for that?"

"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment - one shilling a box--
Allow me to sell you a couple?"

"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak--
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life."

"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose--
What made you so awfully clever?"

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father. "Don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs.

Medievalist said:

You know Carroll/Dodgson was parodying Wordsworth's "Resolution and Independence," right? About the wisdom of the aged leech-gatherer . . .

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well there you go, it's important to know a writers place in history.
I didn't know that.
thank you- all my life I've just taken this poem at face value.

Medievalist said:

Go look at Wordsworth's poem . . . it makes the parody that much funnier, and Carroll really nailed the worst of Wordsoworth's romantic wallowing.

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I did read it-just.
great connection, thanks

dclary said:

To answer the question seriously, no. I did not wet my pants from excessive laughter reading this. Thank goodness.

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I am so glad you are bodily fluid free. Pray tell what makes you such a glum boy?

dclary said:

Oh, I may be some glum but I ain't plum glum.

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hey why the long face? many a plum has hung on the tree waiting for plucking. We harvest what we can. do you blame us? we gotta eat.

poetinahat said:

Plums? Thanks for raisin the question.

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peachy you are the plum in my pudding.