The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner

 W.B. Yeats

Summary:

'The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner' is an earlier poem revised with a new title. It is composed by an Irish poet and dramatist W.B. Yeats. The poem presents the poet's reminiscence of his young life with a contrast of the present state. Owing to the contrast between his youth and the old age, the poet feels more and more miserable which fills him with rage and the poem ends with a contemptuous expression against time.

According to the poem, the speaker draws comparison between his delightful past and the miserable present and considers the time being responsible for it because he thinks it has transfigured him into an old man. At present, he is obliged to shelter under a broken tree. On the contrary, he used to enjoy talking about love and politics in every company before the time changed him into an old man. Being lost in the reminiscences of the glorious past, the speaker is shocked to see the dreadful present where the mischievous lads and the crazy rascals give him constant troubles. Because of such a shocking contrast, the poet is driven to think of the time with an attitude of blaming it for the change. Thus the lamentation leads him towards contemplation while filling his heart with rage against time. Finally, he feels humiliated to think of women who pay no attention towards him as he is no better than a broken tree. This humiliation provokes him to end the poem with the expression ' I spit into the face of time that has transfigured me'.

Analysis of the poem:

The poem is well-written with the shift in subject matter in the three stanzas. For example, the first stanza deals with reminiscences of the past and the second stanza focuses on the present state with speaker's contemplation of time whereas the third stanza concentrates on his humiliating situation and rage. The refrain in the poem becomes quite significant because it emphasizes the aspect of transfiguration of the speaker and the role played by time. The whole poem is written in the tone of rage (anger).

The remarkable quality of the poem is the blend of description and reflection of the poet. The speaker's reflection over his state changes his mood and tone from one stanza to another. With the content-tone of the speaker as perceived in the first stanza gradually turns into more and more violent and furious in the second and third stanzas. The bitter realization about the humiliating state makes the pendulum of the speaker's mood swing to the other side of the contentment and strike at the tone of fury in the end.

Question-answers:

1. Why does the poet show his anger against time? Or why does the old man want to spit into the face of time? Or why is the poet angry in 'The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner'?

→The poet shows his anger against time because time has badly changed him into an ugly old man. Time is the main cause of his miserable condition. At present, he has lost much of his vigour, power, beauty and zeal. Time has changed him in such a way that he now can't talk of love and politics in the company of his friends, which he did when he was young. He is completely sad and hurt now because no beautiful young women turn their face upon him simply because he is old and physically unattractive and charmless. Therefore, he wants to spit into the face of time which has transfigured him into an ugly, weak, feeble and unattractive.

2. Mention three things the old man laments about. Why is he sad about them?

→ The three things the old man laments about are listed below:

a) Because of his physical loss, he can't talk of love and politics in the company                       of  young men.

        b) The young ones are preparing weapons to go against the tyrannical government;                     they are enthusiastic ones to launch a revolution, but he can't accompany them. He                 has only become the eye-witness to the various activities of the young people.

c)  Because of his old age and ugly appearance, no women turn their face on him.

The poet is sad about them because he has been badly transfigured (changed) by the             cruel time.

3. What is the tone of the poem: complacency, resignation or rage?

→ In literature, tone is the attitude or approach that the author takes toward the work’s central theme or subject. Works of literature can have many different types of tone, such as humorous, solemn, distant, intimate, ironic, arrogant, condescending, sentimental, complacent, resigning, raging and so on. Any emotion that humans can feel can be an example of tone in literature.

Complacency refers to the self-satisfaction. The speaker at least feels satisfied because time could not defeat or transfigure his mind, imagination power and memory. He can still remember his bygone days because of his intact memory-power.

There is also a touch of resignation in the poem. By resignation we mean to say that the poet has surrendered himself to the destructive power of time. He seems to feel helpless against the powerful time that can change everything without any obstacles.

The poem also consists of the tone 'rage'. The general quality, feeling and the tone of the poem is rage or anger. This is the dominant tone of the poem. Time is the enemy of the poet and therefore he is angry with it and wants to spit into the face of it.

4. Explain the title of the poem.

→ The title of the poem 'The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner' is appropriate. The whole poem presents the anger of an old pensioner. The speaker feels helpless for his physical loss. He feels hurt due to his inability to talk of love and politics. At this age, he is unable to accompany the lads who are enthusiastically ready to fight against the cruel authorities. Now no woman turns her face upon him simply because he is old, physically weak, ugly and unattractive. So the whole poem is about the lamentation of an old pensioner.

5. What is the speaker lamenting on?

→ The speaker of this poem is an old, ugly and unattractive due to his overage. He laments for his physical loss, for his inability to talk of love and politics in the company of young men. He also laments on his charmless appearance upon which no woman turns her face.

6. How and why does the Old Pensioner lament?

→ The Old Pensioner laments by showing his physical weaknesses to talk of love and politics with young people due to the loss of his vigour, strength and zeal. He laments expressing his inability to attract any woman due to his old age.

The Old Pensioner laments because he can't do anything now because he has lost his physical strength and power. He is helpless now. Time has changed him into an old, ugly and vigourless person. He thinks that time is the main culprit for transfiguring his life into a useless substance. He condemns the time by spitting into its face.

The End