Old Age Sticks (Style)

Style

“Old age sticks” is written in free verse, which means it follows no set pattern of rhyme or meter. The poem does have, however, a set syllabic construction. Each stanza is made up of four lines: each first line has three syllables; each second, two syllables; each third, one syllable; each fourth, two syllables. Ultimately the pattern is circular and repeating. This structure suggests a reflection of the poem’s content, which demonstrates how “old age” is replaced by a “youth” that becomes an “old age” that is replaced by a younger “youth” and so on. When form and content mirror each other in such a manner, the result is sometimes termed organic composition. Cummings also uses enjambment — sentences that run over line endings — to reinforce his meanings. For example, in the first line of the poem, cummings breaks the line mid-thought, leaving the reader in suspense for the completion of the thought. We are left with the question: “old age sticks what?” Enjambment also compels readers to try to make meaning of fragmented or disjointed thoughts, with the effect that readers try to process associative meanings — the various connotations of the individual words. When this technique is well employed, such associations contribute to the overall meaning of the poem.

Finally, another noteworthy poetic device in “old age sticks” is its use of personification. Both “old age” and “youth,” essentially abstract ideas, are personified in the poem, which is to say that they are given human qualities. In effect this allows the poem to speak not only about the abstract ideas of “youth” and “old age” but also to the particulars of human experience in response to aging.

Topics for Further Study

• Write a simple, honest statement about the different attitudes of young and old people. Put your statement into a poetic form like cummings’s poem, breaking words onto different lines and even different stanzas. The result should be a poem that makes readers stop and wonder about your basic truth, instead of accepting it too easily without thought.
• What does the first line tell you about the theme of the poem? What does the last line tell you? Do you think word manipulation is an effective tool for getting these ideas across?