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Analysis and comments on The Song Of The Old Mother by William Butler Yeats

Comment 4 of 4, added on October 17th, 2005 at 7:29 AM.

i love dolphins

Tasha Rowland from Dominican Republic
Comment 3 of 4, added on September 14th, 2005 at 4:03 AM.

hey the morrisons way! errr brace yourself holly reds and emily t in da house! this poem sucks have a nice day all RESPECT BRUV!

Holly & Emily from United Kingdom
Comment 2 of 4, added on May 11th, 2005 at 3:24 PM.

If you are interested in this poem it contrasts well with 'On my first sonne' by Ben Jonson, He wrote this elegy after the death in 1603 of his eldest son, Benjamin, aged seven. The poet addresses the boy, bidding him farewell, and then seeks some meaning for his loss. Jonson blames himself, rhetorically at least, arguing that he hoped too much for his son, who was only on loan to him. Now that the seven years are up, the boy has had to be returned.
Jonson tries to argue that this is only fair and his presumptuous plans for the boy's future were the cause of his present sense of loss. He then questions his own grief: why lament the enviable state of death when the child has escaped suffering and the misery of aging? He cannot answer this question, simply saying "Rest in soft peace" and asking that the child, or perhaps the grave, record that his son was Jonson's "best piece of poetry," the creation of which he was most proud. He concludes by vowing that from now on he will be more careful with those he loves; he will be wary of liking and so needing them too much.

From Alexander
Aged 15
United Kingdom

Alexander from United Kingdom
Comment 1 of 4, added on December 7th, 2004 at 4:31 AM.

This poem is about a hard-working, poor old woman who compares herself to the young women of the house who spends their days dreaming of love and worrying about their appearance. It is not clear whether these young women are her own children or the children of people she works for as a maid.The poem is written in th efirst person, as we are listening in to the womans own thoughts.
The poem is just ten lines long, with most lines exactly ten syllables long. So the poem is almost like a square- ten by ten. Perhaps this reflects how limited the old Mother's life is:
She cannot break away from the rigidy of her life.

The poem is written in rhyming couplets: the rhyme scheme is AA BB CC DD EE. A half -rhyme between the first and last couplets(blow and Old)helps to 'round off' the poem,which both starts and finishes with the seed of the poem.(Thats it for now)

Metehra from United Kingdom



Information about The Song Of The Old Mother

Poet: William Butler Yeats
Poem: The Song Of The Old Mother
Volume: The Wind Among The Reeds
Year: 1899
Added: Feb 20 2003
Viewed: 5391 times
Poem of the Day: Feb 25 2007


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