Old man and very Old man

Meter (rhythm)

• youthful hope disputed by the passage of time. 1st two lines are standard IP

• Then there are extra syllables and interruptions that slow the momentum

• Primarily irregular iambic pentameter

• Speaker’s inability to control passage of time

• Unpredictability of life

• Human life cannot be perfected to mechanical/orderly actions or rhythms.

Context

• written in the time of new ideas (eg Darwin’s theory of revolution)

• Victorian era

AB

• written in his 50s

• Inspired by classical literature, such as Virgil

• Was a physician for years; abandoned work to be a poet after making lots of money