15+ Reflective Poems about Old Age

(15 to start, 75+ to explore)

These old-age poems explore the nuances of aging and the wisdom that comes with time. They pay tribute to the richness of life’s experiences, delving into the memories, lessons, and hardships that shape older people.

These verses may contemplate the passage of time, acceptance of mortality, and the beauty of embracing one’s age with grace. Poets use the imagery of wrinkles, silver hair, and the journey of a lifetime to convey the complexities and wisdom accompanying old age.

Poems about Old Age Visual Representation

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"> 90/100

Grandfather

by Derek Mahon

‘Grandfather’ offers a moving and memorable portrayal of a man who pushes back against his old age right up to the end.

Mahon portrays old age with respect and empathy, focusing on his grandfather’s slowing pace and enduring strength. The poem acknowledges the challenges of aging but celebrates the grace and dignity of a life well-lived. Crucially, though, while the grandfather's old age is important in this poem, it never completely defines who he is or how he is perceived by his family.

They brought him in on a stretcher from the world,

Wounded but humorous; and he soon recovered.

Boiler-rooms, row upon row of gantries rolled

Away to reveal the landscape of a childhood

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"> 88/100

Equilibrium

by Theresa Lola

Theresa Lola’s ‘Equilibrium’ is a phenomenal portrayal of decline in the face of what ought to be a family celebration.

Though short, this poem powerfully captures the depth of an elderly man’s life, showing both his strength and frailty. Rather than treating him as just a symbol of aging, Lola gives him a real sense of character. His struggles feel genuine, and the poem respects his full humanity. It’s one of the most touching portrayals of an elderly person, reminding us of life’s cycle.

My new-born brother wailed into existence
and my grandfather's eyes became two stopwatches

counting down his own exit. After the naming ceremony
my grandfather was quiet as a cut open for autopsy.

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"> 87/100

Next Day

by Randall Jarrell

‘Next Day’ by Randall Jarrell is a confessional poem with a conversational tone that articulates the complex emotions of aging and change.

This poem's focus on emotions, avoidance, change, and perception put a unique spin on the themes of old age and death. Instead of blandly looking at the latter stages in the speaker's life from a 3rd-person perspective, the speaker's emotions take center-stage as she sees evidence of her own old age in everything she does.

Moving from Cheer to Joy, from Joy to All,

I take a box

And add it to my wild rice, my Cornish game hens.

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"> 85/100

Bahnhofstrasse

by James Joyce

‘Bahnhofstrasse’ by James Joyce recalls a moment of physical discomfort that’s ingrained itself in the mind of the speaker as being exemplary of the woes inherent to old age.

One of the main topics touched on in the poem is a rude awakening when it comes to the effects of age on the body. Although James Joyce was still relatively young (for our time) when he wrote the poem, he still faced a number of taxing health issues. These included a bout of persistent glaucoma and back pain that made even walking down the street an arduous journey.

The eyes that mock me sign the way

Whereto I pass at eve of day.

Grey way whose violet signals are

The trysting and the twining star.

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"> 85/100

Crabbed Age and Youth

by William Shakespeare

‘Crabbed Age and Youth’ by William Shakespeare is an interesting poem that speaks about the differences between age and youth.

The speaker is worried about growing older and uses this poem as a way to compare youth to old age and express how much better the latter is than the former. The poem suggests that old age is hardly worth experiencing at all.

Crabbed age and youth cannot live together:

Youth is full of pleasance, age is full of care;

Youth like summer morn, age like winter weather;

Youth like summer brave, age like winter bare.

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"> 82/100

Childhood

by Frances Cornford

‘Childhood’ explores the transitory moment when a child becomes aware of the passing of time, and the process of growing old.

Cornford's poem presents the physical as well as emotional challenges of old age. Though the speaker chiefly describes the physical disabilities of an elderly person, she purposefully hides the emotional ones in her apparently simple sing-song-like poem.

I used to think that grown-up people chose

To have stiff backs and wrinkles round their nose,

And veins like small fat snakes on either hand,

On purpose to be grand.

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Getting Back Together

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"> 80/100

When You Are Old

by William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats’ poem ‘When You Are Old’ is directly addressed to his lover, most probably Maud Gonne who was an Irish revolutionary.

The poem's focus on an elderly reader looking back at their life underscores the inevitable process of aging and the emotions it evokes. It might inspire readers to consider their youth and what they regret in the past.

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,

And nodding by the fire, take down this book,

And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

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"> 78/100

Sonnet 73

by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 73, ‘That time of year thou mayst in me behold’, explores love’s resilience in the face of human transience.

The speaker's old age is foregrounded in the poem as all the other thematic concerns of aging, mortality, and love emanate from the fact that the speaker is old and nearing his end. The speaker reflects on this fundamental truth as he compares himself to barren boughs and the autumn season, but unlike these cyclic natural phenomena, his old age cannot be reversed; the power of his beloved is tested in front of this fundamental truth.

That time of year thou mayst in me behold

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

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"> 73/100

Growing Old

by Matthew Arnold

‘Growing Old’ is about the reality of aging and how ones youthful expectations will not be fulfilled as one’s body losing beauty and strength.

This poem is deeply connected to the experience of old age, showing how it changes both the body and the mind. The speaker talks about the loss of physical strength and beauty, but also about feeling disconnected from youth. Instead of wisdom or peace, they describe aging as a time of isolation and regret, where life feels like a prison and emotions begin to fade away.

What is it to grow old?

Is it to lose the glory of the form,

The luster of the eye?

Is it for beauty to forego her wreath?

#10

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"> 71/100

Memory of My Father

by Patrick Kavanagh

Kavanagh’s poem portrays feelings of grief with startling potency by emphasising the presence of the speaker’s deceased father.

All the people the speaker believes resemble his late father are elderly and frail, emphasizing the state in which the speaker remembers him. His memories do not focus on times when his father was healthy and strong but rather on his final days, marked by decline and vulnerability. This focus on frailty reflects the speaker’s lasting impression of his father near death, showing how such moments leave a deep emotional imprint on those left behind.

Every old man I see

Reminds me of my father

When he had fallen in love with death

One time when sheaves were gathered.

#11

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"> 66/100

The Professor

by Nissim Ezekiel

‘The Professor’ presents an aging teacher speaking with pride and habit about his family, health, and changing times, offering a glimpse into post-independence Indian life and identity.

The professor openly talks about being retired, feeling the limits of old age, and even how rarely he goes out now. Still, he talks proudly about his good health and habits from youth. He makes jokes about his age but also shows how aging comes with loneliness and reflection. He wants to stay relevant and be remembered. His words carry both acceptance of aging and a quiet wish to stay connected to people from his past.

Remember me? I am Professor Sheth.

Once I taught you geography. Now

I am retired, though my health is good. My wife died some years back.

By God's grace, all my children

#12

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"> 65/100

Conductor

by Marilyn Nelson

‘Conductor’ by Marilyn Nelson offers the rousing introspections of a conductor on The Underground Railroad who asserts the necessity of replacing self-preservation with an instinctual selflessness.

A topic that Nelson's poem explores is old age. The entire first stanza is devoted to this pondering of time's effects on a person's body, yet it also affords vital changes in the way one perceives their life. For the speaker, it's given them the courage and will to disregard the risks of being a conductor.

When did my knees learn how to forecast rain,

and my hairbrush start yielding silver curls?

Of late, a short walk makes me short of breath,

and every day begins and ends with pain.

#13

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"> 64/100

Part V: The Merchant’s Tale

by Geoffrey Chaucer

This section of ‘The Merchant’s Tale’ by Geoffrey Chaucer introduces January’s squire and provides details of the wedding night.

This poem features a January-May relationship between characters of the same name. The poet explores the old man's hubris as he believes he can fully satisfy and attract a young woman despite receiving advice to the contrary. The one-sided privilege of choice in marriages throughout the Middle Ages is displayed as the young May does not want to be married to an old 'lecherous' man.

Mayus, that sit with so benyngne a chiere,

Hire to biholde it semed fayerye.

Queene Ester looked nevere with swich an ye

On Asseur, so meke a look hath she.

#14

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"> 62/100

Beachcomber

by Carol Ann Duffy

‘Beachcomber’ by Carol Ann Duffy is a powerful piece about memory and the past. The poem is narrated from the perspective of an older woman who is trying to remember scenes from a day at the beach.

The inspiration for this poem is the speaker's older age and the fact that she's now more distant than she's ever been from who she was as a child. This makes her want to recall these memories even more.

If you think till it hurts

you can almost do it without getting off that chair

scare yourself

within an inch of the heart

#15

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"> 62/100

Touch Me

by Stanley Kunitz

‘Touch Me’ by Stanley Kunitz is a moving poem about aging, the loss of identity, and desire. It explores what keeps people, and creatures of all varieties, going as they enter the final “season” of their life.

The poem focuses on the speaker’s experience of growing old. He reflects on how aging has changed him. His perception of the world is different now compared to his youth. The inevitability of aging brings a sense of loss and reflection. It also brings wisdom and acceptance.

Summer is late, my heart.

Words plucked out of the air

some forty years ago

when I was wild with love

Home » Collection » Poems about Old Age

15+ Reflective Poems about Old Age

(15 to start, 75+ to explore)

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15+ Reflective Poems about Old Age

(15 to start, 75+ to explore)

by Derek Mahon

by Theresa Lola

by Randall Jarrell

by James Joyce

by William Shakespeare

by Frances Cornford

by William Butler Yeats

by William Shakespeare

by Matthew Arnold

by Patrick Kavanagh

by Nissim Ezekiel

by Marilyn Nelson

by Geoffrey Chaucer

by Carol Ann Duffy

by Stanley Kunitz

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