Old Age Sticks (Poem Summary)

Poem Summary

Line 1

This first line exemplifies cummings’s use of abrupt enjambment to create fragmentary or partial thoughts that, while part of a larger phrase or idea, also stand alone. In this case, if one were reading quickly it would be easy read or hear “old age stinks” by accident. The misreading would hint at a disdain for old age. In this manner the line sets the tone of the poem. The broken line also interrupts a larger phrase, leaving the careful reader asking what “old age” sticks — or with what or how. It also obscures the grammar of the sentence, so that “sticks” might appear to be a noun rather than a verb and “old age” might appear to be an adjective rather than a noun.

Line 2

This line is a bit baffling. By breaking lines this way, cummings makes his reader pay attention to the individual words he uses, inviting a consideration of their various associations. Here, through a process of random association, the words “up” and “keep” are easily contracted into “upkeep.” One might also think of “keeping up,” as in to “keep up” with the times, with other people, or with life. Ultimately, these associations all build toward the tension of the poem’s overall theme: in some sense the poem comments on both “upkeep” (maintenance) and “keeping up” (competition).

Lines 3-4

These lines bring a partial conclusion to the thought begun in line 1. All of the syntactic clues provided in the preceding lines suddenly add up to something. The reader learns that “old age sticks up ‘keep off’ signs.” Consequently, these four lines also portray “old age” as forbidding, trying to limit individual actions and deem what is acceptable. Note that the speaker of the poem speaks of “old age” as if it were a person: through this personification the speaker makes clear that he is not simply saying that “old people” do these things, but that age does these things. Thus, the focus of the poem is the abstract idea of “age” and “aging.”

Lines 5-8

The focus of the poem shifts momentarily to “youth,” also personified. “Youth” and “old age” are set in direct opposition to one another: “old age” plants warnings, and “youth” yanks them up. The lines imply that “youth” refuses to abide by “old age”’s edicts.

Line 9

This line finishes the thought begun in line 8. In this manner the thought is enjambed from stanza 2 to stanza 3. The reader begins to see that “old age” wants “youth” to “back off,” to “not trespass” on “old age”’s territory. It’s not clear, however, exactly what territory this is that “old age” is trying to protect. Note again the typographic irregularity or uniqueness of this line. Cummings uses parentheses to break up the word “trespass” into “Tres) & (pas).” He also drops the second “s” off the word “pass,” effectively drawing more attention to it through these oddities. The reader is likely to realize that, had the poet left the “s” on, then the parentheses would contain the word “pass.” It is possible that this actually draws attention to the word “pass,” which may suggest a larger theme that the poem is developing.

Line 10

In this line, the nature of the conflict between “old age” and “youth” becomes much more clear. “Youth laughs” suggests that “youth” feels in no way threatened by “old age.” Rather, it would seem “old age” somehow seems threatened by “youth.”

Lines 11-12

Technically speaking, this is an example of a “mixed” sentence construction, which means that the subject of the sentence is not apparent. On the one hand we might read this as a quote in which “youth” commands “old age” to “sing.” On the other hand, the poem makes more sense when we read this in terms of what follows and read “old age / scolds” “youth.” Or we might take this to mean that “old age” is commanding “youth” to “sing”: “‘Sing,’ old age scolds.” Such ambiguity is common to modern poetry and should be looked upon less as a problem than as an “opening” that allows many meanings to coexist.

Lines 13-16

In these lines, “old age” again tries to dictate what “youth” will do, but notice that by breaking words apart, the poem takes on an almost pathetic tone. Each break creates a pause suggestive of an inability to speak, which in its turn suggests an overwhelming emotion.

Lines 17-20

This last stanza brings the poem to its conclusion. “Old age” has been trying to keep youth from “gr/owing old.” The reason, implicitly, is that if “youth” grows old, if “youth” trespasses into “old age”’s territory, then there is nowhere left for “old age” to go, other than death. At the same time, however, it would seem “old age” has not so much been trying to “command” or dictate what “youth” can do, but rather to warn “youth.” In a sense, “old age” appears less self-serving than helpful. The irony is that youth’s trespass and rebellion, its desire to mature and grow, are speeding it on toward the same fate as “old age.” It is this cycle of aging, as well as the social cycle of distrust between generations, that the poem gradually reveals in form as well as content.

Media Adaptations

• A cassette titled e. e. cummings Reads, in which cummings reads from his dramatic and poetic works, was released by Caedmon in 1956.
• A two-cassette set titled e. e. cummings Reads His Collected Poetry, 1943-58 is available from Caedmon.