Happiness with Age
Three Messages of Happiness in Three Poems Roman poet and rhetoric teacher, Decimius Magnus Ausonius, once wrote, “Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years.” As a person grows older, he or she may not realize the value and beauty life holds. This, of course, is because society has shaped humans to be well trained dogs who continuously follow a set of orders and rules. The rare few who stray from the pack are considered to be outcasts and are seen as untouchables. This is because these rare few people chose not to follow every rule and guideline set before them, but rather they chose to track their own path and learn without the help of day-to-day societal norms. “The Unknown …show more content…
E. Cummings, is quite different from Auden’s poem, but it still portrays a similar message about what happens as one ages. When one analysis this particular poem, he or she will have a very difficult time understanding any message being portrayed. The structure of this poem is extremely confusing and hard to read, but this is done on purpose to intrigue the reader and to get readers thinking. It is no secret that Cummings was aware of how much knowledge and wisdom one can gain as he or she grows old and experiences more things in life. This poem shows the discord that can grow between the young and the elderly when neither is willing to respect one another. For example, Cummings writes, “age cries no Tres)&(pas) youth laughs (sing...” to show how the youth did not listen or bother to acknowledge what those above them were trying to say. Later in the poem, it talks about how the youth go on not caring and not realizing that they too are growing old. The youth are completely oblivious to the fact that one day they will be the elderly trying to share advice to the restless and ungrateful …show more content…
E. Cummings wrote another poem titled, “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town”, which follows the life of a man who was disliked and unfavored by all except the one who loved him. This poem, unlike Auden’s and the previous from Cummings, talks specifically about how one must find love in order to have happiness throughout life. Cummings talks about how this certain man does not have joy in his life except for one woman. This man was not liked by other men or women in his community, so they paid no attention to him or what he enjoyed. In fact, it was not the other adults in this town who saw the man’s happiness, but it was the children who saw what brought this man’s joy. The third stanza of the poem reads, “children guessed... that noone loved him more and more...”. Cummings refers to ‘noone’ as the women who this man loved, and she loved him back. Although this man was unfavored and uncared for, he did not mind because he had someone in his life who he loved and cherished above all else. Because this man had a love so pure in his life, he was able to obtain true
Three Messages of Happiness in Three Poems Roman poet and rhetoric teacher, Decimius Magnus Ausonius, once wrote, “Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years.” As a person grows older, he or she may not realize the value and beauty life holds. This, of course, is because society has shaped humans to be well trained dogs who continuously follow a set of orders and rules. The rare few who stray from the pack are considered to be outcasts and are seen as untouchables. This is because these rare few people chose not to follow every rule and guideline set before them, but rather they chose to track their own path and learn without the help of day-to-day societal norms. “The Unknown …show more content…
E. Cummings, is quite different from Auden’s poem, but it still portrays a similar message about what happens as one ages. When one analysis this particular poem, he or she will have a very difficult time understanding any message being portrayed. The structure of this poem is extremely confusing and hard to read, but this is done on purpose to intrigue the reader and to get readers thinking. It is no secret that Cummings was aware of how much knowledge and wisdom one can gain as he or she grows old and experiences more things in life. This poem shows the discord that can grow between the young and the elderly when neither is willing to respect one another. For example, Cummings writes, “age cries no Tres)&(pas) youth laughs (sing...” to show how the youth did not listen or bother to acknowledge what those above them were trying to say. Later in the poem, it talks about how the youth go on not caring and not realizing that they too are growing old. The youth are completely oblivious to the fact that one day they will be the elderly trying to share advice to the restless and ungrateful …show more content…
E. Cummings wrote another poem titled, “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town”, which follows the life of a man who was disliked and unfavored by all except the one who loved him. This poem, unlike Auden’s and the previous from Cummings, talks specifically about how one must find love in order to have happiness throughout life. Cummings talks about how this certain man does not have joy in his life except for one woman. This man was not liked by other men or women in his community, so they paid no attention to him or what he enjoyed. In fact, it was not the other adults in this town who saw the man’s happiness, but it was the children who saw what brought this man’s joy. The third stanza of the poem reads, “children guessed... that noone loved him more and more...”. Cummings refers to ‘noone’ as the women who this man loved, and she loved him back. Although this man was unfavored and uncared for, he did not mind because he had someone in his life who he loved and cherished above all else. Because this man had a love so pure in his life, he was able to obtain true