The Lamentation Of The Old Pensioner (W.B Yeats)

This poem is notable for its bitter words of an old man  "I spit into the face of time / that has transfigured me" and its skillful dramatic variations of the bare refrain "Time / that has transfigured me" pointing towards the stripped yet intricate bitterness of Yeats's Last Poems.
When the poet is in trouble he takes a shelter, but it is only a broken tree. Before time changed him he talked of love and politics with his friends, but his was never closer to the warmth of power. He had been left far behind. Some young people are excited to get power and so they fight against the opponents,but the poet thinks on time which has changed him completely. Now in his old age no women takes care of him but he still remembers the beautiful women. He thinks that his only enemy is time which has made him old. Therefore, he express his anger by spitting into the face of the time.

Questions and Answers:

1.) Explain the title of the poem.

Ans: The retired old man thinks of his youth and feels sorry for its loss. Now his power as well as his lover is lost.The young boys and young girls neither love him nor take care of him.

2.) What does the poem add to your knowledge of the old man (his character, attitude, circumstance)?

Ans: The poem says that the old man was a powerful person in politics. He was equally liked by beautiful women. Although he is old now, he wants to do the same thing. So, he is sad and throws his anger at the time that has transfigured him.

3.) Describe the shifts in subject matter in the three stanzas. What is the effect of this shifts?

Ans: The first stanza describes his favourable condition in politics and love. The second stanza describes how the angry young people behave today in contrast to the old man's youth which was lovely and quiet. The last one shows his neglected condition and thus he throws all the anger to the time, which is the main cause of all this loss.

4.) Summarize the poem in one sentence.

Ans: This poem represents the poet memories of his youth which becomes more painful when he looks at his present condition and contrasts it with his condition in the old age.

Practice Questions:

Short Answer Questions:

1) 2073 Set C

    What makes the old pensioner feel isolated in his old age?

2) 2072 Set E

    What is the lamentation of the old pensioner?

3) 2073 Set D

    Why does the poet spit into the face of time?

4) 2071 Supp 

    How and why does the old pensioner lament?

Long Answer Questions

1) 2060

 Write an essay on Youth and Age.

Ans: An old man has not much left but memories. His life is already done. But a few years remain. So the future does not much occupy his mind. He dwells a good deal in the past looking back over the long life he had live, which seems to have gone so quickly. He thinks of his lost youth and of all he dreamed of and meant to do then. 

A boy lives mainly in the present, and takes short views of life and he is an erratic creature, moved by sudden and in calculable impulses. One can never know what he will be up to next. One can no more calculate what will he do or say than you can win and how and where the wind will blow. So " a boy's will is wind's will".

But when the boy grows up to be a young man, he begins to think of his future. He stands on the threshold of his life, and all the years to come stretch away before him to a far off horizon. And what a long life it looks! to youth of twenty, the forty or fifty or even sixty years he may live seem and eternity. He begins to dream of all he will do and become in that vast period ahead. He dreams of effort and achievement. He will become a famous scholar. He will develop a great business and become a billionaire. He will write great books or paint great pictures of compose great music, and earn fame. He will take up politics, and rise to position and powers. So he will think of his distance future.