Themes of Mortality and Growing Older in Poems Essay (Review)

All three poems seem to have the theme of mortality and growing older. In Ulysses, the persona admits that he has grown old, and this has left him weak, ‘Match’d with an aging wife, I sit and dole’. However, the persona does not accept old age and weakness as his affliction; he does not accept the fact that death is near and should sit and wait for it, he goes on to do the things he likes and considers sitting and waiting for death as dull, “How dull it is, to make end“. The persona is aware of his ticking time but tends to use up to the last of the second to do what he loves and relive his younger years, “Little remains: but every hour is saved”. Most would consider resting at an old age a way of elongating one’s life, but the persona finds this disgraceful, as he says, “…vile were it…For some three suns to hoard myself”. As a leader, the persona wants to serve his people to the last day, even if it means dying while serving them.

In Stopping by the Woods, the poem is written from a perspective of an adult who stops to mesmerize at the beauty of life, the woods and its beauty symbolizes the beauty of life while his journey symbolizes the beauty of life. In this poem, the theme of mortality and aging is addressed clearly. Here, the persona does not allow aging and mortality to obscure the beauty found in life. As seen in the poem, the persona is aware of his gradual aging, “The darkest of the evening”, symbolizing the inevitable death and the darkness associated with it. The poem has also symbolized old age with the snow reference, “To watch the woods fill up with snow”, this has been used to show how with age, the thoughts of a person are filled with obscurity. In the poem, the persona is caught between enjoying the beauty of life at his old age and fulfilling his duties and obligations, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep…..But I have promises to keep”

In the third poem, Do not go gentle into that good night, the theme of mortality and aging is also addressed. Here, the title of the poem clearly shows the mortal nature of man, as the “good night” symbolizes death. The poem convinces the readers to accept death, as no one can escape it but should challenge it, “Do not go gentle..”. In the first stanza, in the third line, the persona says “Rage rage against the dying of the light”, which clearly tells the readers to challenge death, the dying light symbolizing death. The poem also shines a light on the beauty and power of life, as seen in the first stanza, “Old age should burn and rave at close of day”, juxtaposition is used here to clearly show the difference between life and death. While death is symbolized with darkness and nights, life is shown through an image of burning light. Finally, in the last stanza, the persona talks to his father, advising him to challenge death, though he is on his deathbed.

In all three poems, the tone varies from contempt to inspirational to persuasive to realistic. The contempt tone is directed towards death and mortality, “The darkest evening of the year.” Death is seen as the enemy of humanity and described as darkness. The references used to show death are dark night and dark evening, clearly showing the contempt towards death. The inspirational tone is used to clearly show the beauty of life and everything associated with life, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep”. Life is described as a brilliant burning light that drives out the darkness (death), “Old age should burn and rave at close of day;” it is also described as deep lovely woods.

The poems inspire the readers, through the images of life, whether in old age or young, to not accept death as it is, but rather to challenge even in the last time minute. The persuasive tone is used to convince the reader that death, even in its dark nature, can be challenged, “Do not go gentle into that good night,”, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” It is aimed at showing the reader that despite death and mortality being a “dark night”, the beauty found in life is overwhelming and outweighs the darkness of death. The realistic tones of the poems are aimed at showing the natural nature of death and life. Despite the poems being aimed at challenging death and enjoying the beauty of life to the last breath, the poems also acknowledge that death is inevitable. The poems also display the beautiful nature of life as a mixture of obligations and promises; therefore, even as one is enjoying the beauty of life, one should not forget that there are things to do.

The message that is passed out by all the three messages is one, death is inevitable but should be challenged. Most people, in old age or when sick, will patiently sit waiting to die, forgetting about their dreams, ambitions and the beauty that is found in life. This is rebuked in the poems as it shows a lack of zeal to live. Life is meant to be enjoyed, to fully exploit the beauty found in nature, art, science, philosophy, and all other disciplines, it is meant to build healthy and meaningful relationships, but not to live in constant fear or death. The fact that death is inevitable should actually inspire all to live their lives fully, as shown in the poem, Ulysses, to try and conserve one with an aim of elongating the lifespan can only result in a dull, boring life. As it is termed nowadays, “we are all here for a good time, not a long time”, hiding under the shadow of being afraid to live or take any risks only results to regrets, which are felt on the deathbed.

All speakers of the three poems choose to live, in every minute of their lives, In other words the speakers focused more with their lives. They seek the beauty found in life; they seek the completeness of life by living it all. This is because the speakers understand the purpose of life and the nature of death (“Book Review: The Complete Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson” 211). The speakers know that death cannot be escaped; hence, they do not let death come between them and living their lives because at the end, they will for sure die, so they might as well live their lives to maximum before death comes knocking at their doors.

Work cited

“Book Review: The Complete Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson.” Journal of Education, Vol. 48vol. 48, no. 12, 1898, pp. 211-211, doi:10.1177/002205749804801223.