Compare & Contrast the Visions of Old Age in ‘Warning’ & ‘Old Man, Old Man’.

Warning, by Jenny Joseph and Old Man, Old Man by U.A. Fanthorpe both present a vision of old age, however they are both different in expressing their view about it. Warning is a very rebellious poem, telling people about the dangers of old age. Old Man Old Man describes the relationship between a woman and her old father and how their relationship changes as he grows older.

Jenny Joseph uses her poem to play with the ambiguous nature of our expectations of old age. She views old age as a time of less freedom and eccentricity, the word ‘must’ indicates this as she is showing that she must do these things that keep her away from having a free life, “We must…pay our rent and not swear in the street”. She believes old age is a time of seriousness and sobriety, and conservationism.

The poem is set in dramatic monologue as we can see the character of the women becomes clearer as we progress through the poem. Her rebellious nature comes to light as she doesn’t want to grow old gracefully. Her reaction against financial common sense shows that she wants to live a life of freedom at old age but won’t be able to afford to, “we’ve no money for butter.” We can also see that she is an individualist and unique as she uses the pronoun ‘I’ a lot conveying her strident and emphatic tone of voice. The use of colour imagery confirms this as she says, “wear purple and a red hat” showing her vibrant, lurid tone. The character is quite lively and disorderly as shown when Joseph uses vivid onomatopoeia to stress the wickedness of old age. Joseph gives the poem a personal feel by stressing the breathlessness of her voice with the repetition of the word ‘and’. Also, to add a personal touch, the rhythm and syntax are immediate and impassioned. To show that this poem is set in dramatic monologue, there is an implied listener, in the form of a young person who maybe does the things she talks about in the poem for example, “go out in my slippers in the rain.” The use of the pronoun ‘you’ at the beginning of verse two shows that the verse is relevant to the reader. The poem starts in medius rex and lacks exposition making us read on to see what is going on.

Jenny Joseph uses the role of a rebellious, middle-aged woman to convey the dangers of old age. I think this poem is very effective as it uses everyday happenings to tell about our future loss of freedom and recklessness.

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‘Old Man, Old Man” is a very different poem compared to “Warning”. The poem is structured on oppositions. UA Fanthorpe uses words of control and weariness to show that the man is feeble and weak, “shamble”. However, he also shows the old man used to have control and authority but now is incompetent. “Lord once of the shed”, the use of the word ‘once’ shows that he was a leader in the past, but now in his old age isn’t. He used to have some pride. Other oppositions used are memories of the past and of the present, the use poetic and colloquial language and references to the man in the first and third person. There is the description of feelings and physical objects. “A dab with the Black & Decker…have you forgotten the jokes you no longer tell”.

The old man has changed a lot after becoming older as the daughter explains. In the past he used to regimented and tyrannical man who had and used authority. “Lifelong adjuster of environments.” He was also obsessed with DIY and was also cold, distant and emotionally barren. “Not good with daughters, But a dab at hand with the Black and Decker”, her sarcasm shows that he kept a distant from the rest of the family. In his present world as an old man he has changed to a narrow confined routine of sleeping and eating. “He lives in a small world of recalcitrant.” He is fragile, weak and lonely. Fanthorpe uses verbs of deterioration to convey the fact that he is slowly breaking down, “ramble…fretting”. He seems very insecure as he controls himself by controlling the environment.

Ttemperate flow, when he says, ‘Thou by the Indian Ganges side should’st Tubes find.’ The enjambment shows that he is speaking freely, which suggests he is trying to woo the woman. However, the lack of caesura in a woman to her love is to show that she is angry: ‘in drudgery and silence no servant will I be.’ The enjambment here shows her anger because she is saying that she will not be any mans servant or will not drudge for anyone. In to his coy mistress, towards the end, he begins to talk about death and how its coming close, his seriousness is shown by a few more pauses in the sentences, ‘Rather at once our Time devour, than languish in his slow-chapt pow’r.’ The comma in between makes the reader pause and briefly think about what he is saying. In the fourth stanza of a woman to her lover, the poet makes a change of subject and starts to talk about the opposite of the other stanzas: ‘I shall be your comrade, friend, and mate, to live and work, to love and die with you.’ The increase in caesura suggests that she is becoming more calm and makes it sound more considerate. In remember by Christina rossetti throughout the

There is a turning point towards the end of the poem which changes the so far negative attitude to a positive one. The tone of voice here is saddened and compassionate. There is an offer of support and prefers to be like this as soft and weak, so they have to spend more time together.

Both of the poems end on a positive note. “Warning” says that everything is going to happen so you better start practising now because it is natural that this is going to happen. At the end of “Old Man, Old Man” there is the offer of help and support.