You Are Old, Father William by Lewis Carroll - Poetry: The Best Words in the Best Order - #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021
YOU ARE OLD, FATHER WILLIAM
LEWIS CARROLL
"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head -
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I am perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."
"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And you have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door -
Pray what is the reason for that?"
"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment - one shilling a box -
Allow me to sell you a couple?"
"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones, and the beak -
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"
"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life."
"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel at the end of your nose -
What made you so awfully clever?"
"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father. "Don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you downstairs."
The Poet: Lewis Carroll (1832 -1898)
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, popularly known as Lewis Carroll, was a wonderful writer of children's fiction, his most famous works being 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and its sequel 'Through the Looking-Glass'. He wore many hats, apart from that of a writer. He was also a photographer, a mathematician and an inventor, but his popularity as a writer eclipsed all these. He did have a stammer while growing up but this did not stop him from being a amusing mimic and entertainer, and a fairly adept singer. Story telling was, of course, his real talent.
How he picked his pseudonym, Lewis Carroll, is interesting. Lewis came from 'Ludovicus', the Latin for Lutwidge, and Carroll from the Latin 'Carolus' from which Charles is derived. Hence Carolus Ludvicus metamorphosed into Charles Lutwidge and finally was reversed to Lewis Carroll.
'You Are Old, Father William' appears in Chapter five of Alice in Wonderland. When Alice complains to the caterpillar that she is losing her memory, the latter advises her to recite this poem to test her memory.
The poem is satiric, and deals with a conversation between a father and his son. They represent Old Age and Youth. The son constantly reminds his father that he is old and asks him to refrain from doing things like standing on his head and turning a back somersault. He further wonders how, despite having weak jaws, he can eat a complete goose, bones and beak and all. Finally he asks him how he can balance an eel at the end of his nose with such a steady eye.
The father replies to all these queries in a humorous fashion. He now stands on his head because he is not worried any more that it might injure his brain, and his limbs are supple because of an ointment that he uses on them. Even more amusing is the reason he gives for his strong jaw. He talks of how he was a lawyer and enjoyed arguing cases with his wife, which enhanced the muscular strength of his jaw.
By this time the father has run out of patience, and sternly tells his son to stop bothering him with more questions. Any more and he would kick him down the stairs.
The poem is a delight to read, and it shows the arrogance of Youth as it questions the abilities of Old Age. The generation gap comes through very clearly, albeit in a humorous manner. However, at the end, it is clear that the father has an edge over his son. What comes across is Lewis Carroll's delightful irreverence and his sense of humour, both so needed in this world where we take ourselves all too seriously and forget to smell the roses. :)
Isn't it amazing to write about the same poem and i loved your summary of it. We should link our posts 😃. It was great reading your series. You picked up such amazing work for discussion and you interpret them so well
ReplyDeleteDeepika Sharma
Deepika, it would be so great to link our posts. I loved your posts too, every one of them, all so well interpreted. You opened up our imaginations with your stories. I am going to miss this challenge. :) Thank you for being so supportive.
DeleteIt also made me think that the old man was a jester and instead of giving him straight answers, gave him the most irritating ones. This was a fun poem to read.
ReplyDeleteI think that is the advantage old age has over youth, the right to be as irreverent and cheeky as possible. This was a fun poem to do. Thank you, Suchita, for all the encouragement. I am going to miss this challenge. :)
DeleteThis was such a fun poem!
ReplyDeleteYes, Harshita, exactly my sentiments too!:)
DeleteSuch a delightful poem!
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed, Purba! It was a fun poem to interpret. Thank you for all the support. It was wonderful going through your poems. You are a master craftsman.
DeleteThis made me laugh. Satires are always so much fun. Nice read.
ReplyDelete-Leha
Thank you, Leha, this was fun to do. In fact, I am going to miss this challenge. I enjoyed interpreting different kinds of poems. It was wonderful going through your posts as well. All the best and thank you.
Delete