Youth and age (Poems with explaination)

Youth and Age (Peom with explaination)

Youth and age is written by Samuel taylor Coleridge.

Samuel taylor Coleridge

 

 

 

Youth and age (poem)

Youth And Age 
Verse, a Breeze 'mid blossoms straying, 
Where hope clung feeding, like a bee-
Both were mine ! Life went a-maying 
With NATURE, HOPE, and POESY, 
[Image][Image]When I was young ! 
When I was young ?--Ah, woful WHEN ! 
Ah ! for the Change 'twixt Now and Then ! 
This breathing House not built with hands, 
This body that does me grievous wrong, 
O'er æry Cliffs and glittering Sands, 
How lightly then it flashed along 
Like those trim skiffs, unknown of yore,
 On winding lakes and rivers wide, 
That ask no aid of Sail or Oar, 
That fear no spite of Wind or Tide !
 Nought cared this Body for wind or weather 
When YOUTH and I lived in't together. 
 FLOWERS are lovely ; LOVE is flower-like
  FRIENDSHIP is a sheltering tree
 O ! the Joys, that came down shower-like, 
Of FRIENDSHIP, LOVE, and LIBERTY, 
[Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] Ere I was old !
 Ere I was old ? Ah woful ERE, 
Which tells me, YOUTH'S no longer here !
 O YOUTH ! for years so many and sweet,
 'Tis known, that Thou and I were one, 
I'll think it but a fond conceit-- 
It cannot be that Thou art gone ! 
Thy Vesper-bell hath not yet toll'd :-- 
And thou wert aye a Masker bold ! 
What strange Disguise hast now put on, 
To make believe, that thou art gone ? 
I see these Locks in silvery slips, 
This drooping Gait, this altered Size : 
But SPRINGTIDE blossoms on thy Lips, 
And Tears take sunshine from thine eyes ! 
Life is but Thought : so think I will
 That YOUTH and I are House-mates still.
 Dew-drops are the gems of morning, 
But the tears of mournful eve ! 
Where no hope is, life's a warning 
only serves to make us grieve,
 [Image][Image]When we are old : 
 That only serves to make us grieve 
With oft and tedious taking-leave, 
Like some poor nigh-related guest, 
That may not rudely be dismist ; 
Yet hath outstay'd his welcome while, 
And tells the jest without the smile.

Explaination of Poem (Youth and age)

Coleridge in this poem, makes a contrast between youth and old age. For the young it is difficult to imagine old age and the sense of loss. Coleridge’s imaginative power captures not only the joy of youth but also the helplessness of old age. The poet imagines that he has become old. He looks back. He remembers that in his youth, he had all the blessings one can wish for. He was strong and active. He could climb a high peak as easily as he could run on a sandy beach. He had friends who stood by in him. His heart was full of love and joy and liberty.
 He could write poetry and enjoy the company of nature. Life was an everlasting spring. All this is gone now. His body has become weak and old. His hair are silver white. The youth has gone. Then he wonders whether his youth has really departedor it has disguised itself in old age. He cannot reconcile to the fact that youth like spring does not last for ever. He consoles himself by saying that life is nothing but thought. 
As long as he can think, and recollect his youth, he is young. Old age does not necessarily mean the loss of youth. It is the loss of hope and imagination that makes one old. 
 The poet remembers the time when he was young. He could look at life with hope and happiness. Now the old age has made his body weak. But he believes that life is lived in thought only. A person becomes old only when he loses hope. In these lines the poet praises the beauty of flowers. He says that love is as beautiful as flowers. Friendship is like a tree that gives shelter to everyone. The poet remembers the joys of Friendship, Love and Liberty which he had in abundance when he was young, and had not yet become old. 
 The poet remembers the time when he was young. He could look at life with hope and happiness. Now the old age has made his body weak. But he believes that life is lived in thought only. A person becomes old only when he loses hope. These lines describe old age. The poet says that the dew drops found in the morning are as beautiful as gems. But, in fact, these dew drops are the tears of old age that makes a person sad and sorrowful. However, old age makes a person sorrowful only when he has lost hope. A person who has hope always feels himself youthful, though his body may have grown weak and old.