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The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner by William Butler Yeats
MAIN SUMMARY
The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner by William Butler Yeats
The poem “The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner” was composed by William Butler Yeats, a famous Irish poet and dramatist of the twentieth century. The poet goes on comparing his youth with old age and finds old age more painful and lonely. In the poem, the poet presents his lamentation by cursing the time, which has transfigured (changed) him from youth to old age.
He talks about his past events and the experiences of his young life. According to him, in the past, he was young. He used to sit with his friends in front of the fire and talk about love and politics. He had a good time with his friends. He was liked and loved by beautiful women, but those pleasant moments are no more, as time has completely changed his life. So he laments over his life.
In the present, he is quite old and takes shelter under a broken tree to protect him from the rain. He does not have any friends now. Lads in the present indulge themselves in various good and bad activities, but for the poet, nothing remains to do. No woman looks at him lovingly, and no one takes care of him. He is very upset to see his old age and curses the time that transfigured him. He becomes very angry with time and wants to spit into the face of time.
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner by William Butler Yeats
Why does the old man want to spit into the face of time?
Why does the poet spit into the face of the time?
Answer:
The old man wants to spit into the face of time because time has snatched all his happiness from youth and given him loneliness and pain from old age. He suffers a lot at this old age and takes shelter under a broken tree. Nobody takes care of him. Loneliness has become one of his only friends right now. Nothing remains for him to do at this painful age.
Mention the three things that the old man laments about. Why is he sad about them?
Answer:
The three things that the old man laments about are as follows:
His old age: Here at this age, he suffers a lot. His physical condition doesn’t favour him. He is so upset at this age. Because of his old age and appearance, nobody wants to talk to him or care for him.
His youth: He feels sorry about its loss. He does not only lose his power but also his friends, love, and fine talks of love and politics in front of the fire.
Time: He curses time, which brings pain into his life. This time, it transfigures him into an old man. He becomes very upset to see this old life and wants to spit into the face of time.
He is sad because all these things only bring unpleasant feelings into his life. His old age brings pain, his youth brings a sense of loss in the present, and time brings all critical situations for him.
How and why does the old pensioner lament?
Answer:
The old pensioner laments because of his old age. He finds nothing to do, no one to talk to, and no one to care for him. He is frustrated with this pitiable age. Everyone turns their faces in front of him. Due to this lonely life, he takes shelter under a broken tree to protect him from the rain. He laments by cursing the time, which is the main cause of his unhappiness. Time turns everything away from the old pensioner’s life. So he wants to spit into the face of time.
What is the speaker lamenting on?
What is the lamentation of the old pensioner?
Answer:
The speaker is lamenting on his old age, where he only gets pain. He goes on talking about his old age, where he suffers a lot. In this old age, the speaker doesn’t have any friends. He takes shelter under a broken tree to protect him from the rain. Nobody wants to talk with him at this age. He becomes so upset to see this painful life of old age and curses the time that has snatched all the happiness of his youth.
(Important): How can you say the poet is furious (angry) with time?
Answer:
I can say that the poet is angry with the time. If we see the last line of each stanza, we find the poet’s anger towards time. For the poet, it is only the time that snatches all his happiness and gives him the pains of old age in return, where nobody takes care of him.
Explain the title of the poem?
Answer:
The title of the poem suggests that the old pensioner is prevented from doing his usual job. He has already been retired. Time has deprived him of a job, joy, and enjoyment. It has changed him into an old man. He is not very satisfied with his old age. He feels sorry about his youth's loss. Nothing remains in his life. Due to old age,’ he is deprived of love and care; that’s why he has the feeling of lamentation in his life.
(Important): Compare between past and present situation of an old pensioner?
Answer:
In the past, the old pensioner was so young. He used to sit with his friends in front of the fire and talk about love and politics. He had a good time with his friends. He was liked and loved by beautiful women. But those pleasant moments are no more, as time has completely changed his life.
In the present, he is quite old and takes shelter under a broken tree to protect him from rain. He does not have any friends now. Lads in the present indulge themselves in various good and bad activities, but for the poet, nothing remains to do. No woman looks at him lovingly, and no one takes care of him. He is very upset to see his old age and curses the time that transfigured him. He becomes very angry with time and wants to spit into the face of time.
Why does the poet show his anger against time?
Answer:
The poet shows his anger against time because it is the time that has transfigured (changed) his life and given him the pain and loneliness of old age. Right now, the poet has a pitiable life. He doesn’t have those memorable days that he had in the past. He spends a miserable life where no one cares for him. The broken tree becomes his shelter. In this lonely life, no one wants to talk with him. He regrets losing his memorable past days. He doesn’t have any work to do except cursing time. Thus, he curses the time in each stanza for snatching his happiness from his life.
(To write more, point out some lines from the summary and other answers)
(Long 2060) Write Essay on Youth and age.
Answer:
Youth and Age
Youth and age are two different aspects of human life. Human life is a kind of journey where youth and age appear as a way in which every human being has to perform his or her duty and moves ahead towards the final destination of death. Everyone who takes birth on this earth has to face these two aspects of their life. Some people have a poor destiny; they do not get a chance to experience these aspects of their lives. Youth and age are taken as two different concepts of human life. Most people like to talk about their past experiences, especially about their childhood and youth, but the number of people who talk about their old age is small.
Youth is regarded as the age of joy and entertainment. At this age, people have a burden-free life. They do not have any responsibility except to study. People dare to do anything. They never step backwards in any matter. This age can be described as a healthy age too. At this age, the body also supports doing anything. The feeling, especially of love, arises here at this age. The mood, as well as the feeling of youth, is so energetic. People have a sound mind and voice. But if we talk about old age, we will find it just the opposite of youth age. In old age, we do have lots of responsibilities. At this age, we do not have as much energy as before. The physical condition also turns the other way and does not support us. Old age snatches various things from us, e.g., opportunity, happiness, enjoyments, etc. Chains of relationships and responsibilities entangle us, and we go on thinking about past times. The reminiscence of past times remains a final way to console ourselves.
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