AGE Flashcards
(11 cards)
my age falls away like white swaddling
age= associated with his memory
simile reflects the purity in youth and innocence - prev sheltered and structured life - loses the protection inevitably
floats in the middle distance, becomes/ an inhabited cloud
image of clouds reflects the memories he has as being hard to fully pin down as they become more abstract in old age - not as clear as he floats onto the next stage of life
I bend closer, discern
self criticism of speaker when he reflects on the memories in his life- dissatisified as they still remain ambivalent to him
A lighted tenement scuttling with voices
enj- floats to the next stage of his life as he describes a mundane tower of flats
insect imagery reflects the speaker’s annoyance and view on life/soc as burdensome
O you tall game I tired myself with joining
continues with self criticism + critique of conformity - life as daunting and exhausting - speaker emph its pointlessness + vague description = disregards significance
Now I wade through you like the knee-level weeds
difficult with navigating through old life and memories as we age- become less clear to us
OR
unwanted obstacles in older life - natural imagery reveals how he is unable to fully recall his memories due to them becoming inevitably becoming more obscured overtime as he was previously too focused on the tall game to revisit his old memories
limited freedom in adulthood
what does the final stanza in age do
speaker reflects on what old age provides for him / what is left for him and his legacy
dear translucent bergs
unclarity in his older life - impact that age has had on him as his memories remain unclear and hidden beneath the water (immovable)
silence and space.
sibilance emph the absence of memories in older age as although it arguably provides him with a degree of peace and quiet which jxtp with the prev burden life had on him - he’s still at unease as his memories remain vague
little left for him
By now so much has flown from the nest of my head
image of nest -prev held purpose- now empty- shows the impact that age has had on him (similar to speaker’s mind having an absence of memories)
all he can do now is reflect on his legacy as his life in old age becomes redundant of purpose
to know what prints I leave, whether of feer, or spoor of pads, or bird’s adept splay
listing of different legacies he can leave behind- images of freedom and also prey
lack of conclusion at the end of the speaker’s philosophical judgement reflects how he remains unclear of his memories still = unable to decide on his legacy in old age
more nihilistic view
