Analysis of I'm older than I used to be.



I'm older than I used to be,
I remember yesterday quite clearly
I was clever smart and sharp,
each day had purpose.
Now, I'm not so sure what to do,
I search for yesterday.

No one cares about my worth,
my talent or my wit.
Each day that passes is lost in nemesis.
What can I do to stop the rot,
the decay of sitting still and waiting
for publisher to call-they never do.

How shall I shout to make the world aware
of all I have to offer.
The world shouts back in stony silence,
alarming with disinterest,
the insistence to do something
rings hollowly from within.

I cannot stand the din of emptiness,
come, muse and help me sing
what music is irrelevant
as long as there is a tune.
It's mine that no one else can play
or write or paint or sing.

It matters not that no one hears,
perhaps the word will entertain
when I am dead and gone.
The words that echo in my wake
perhaps they too will die silently
Unknown, unread and dead.

No one will care, so why all the trouble
to make a new creation?
I have no idea, - just to fill my days?
To live in hope of some tiny immortality?
But if those words and songs
they die with me - so what?
At least there lived a poet,
whose songs sang out,
whose words warmed empty pages,
deaf heaven was beautified,
the qiet echoes passing by,
celebrating my lonely word.


Scheme AAXBCD XXXXEC XXXXEX BEXXDE XXXXAX XXXAXFFXXCXX
Poetic Form
Metre 11011111 101010110 1110101 11110 11111111 11110 1110111 110111 11110110100 11111101 0011101010 1100111101 1111110101 1111110 011101010 01010100 00101110 11101 1101011100 110111 11010100 1111101 11111111 111111 11011111 0101101 111101 01110011 011111100 010101 1111111010 1101010 11101011111 110111100100 111101 111111 1111010 1111 1111010 11011 0110101 1001101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,303
Words 289
Sentences 16
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 12
Lines Amount 42
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 167
Words per stanza (avg) 42

About this poem

This poem is a reflection of old age. How time has passed as indeed has our apparent usefulness.

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Written on March 20, 2008

Submitted by mansejames on March 25, 2024

1:27 min read
505

I'm older than I used to be.

Anthony James aged (83) Welshman and author writer of poetry novels and short stories. Lives in Wales with his beloved Dawn. more…

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