Shakespeare And Olds Poetry Comparison
The way in which people handle growing old can be very different. William Shakespeare and Sharon Olds, however, have very similar ideas of losing youth. In “Sonnet 73,” Shakespeare discusses what growing old means to him and ends with a plea to the person he wrote the poem to. “35/10” is a comparison poem of a daughter coming of age and a mother who is leaving that time behind. The metaphors and similes used in the imagery and careful word choice used by Shakespeare and Sharon add to the images and feel in their discussions of growing old. The exercise of metaphors and similes is vital to the full meanings of the poems because they are used to give the reader very strong images. Each author uses several to make their feelings of growing old more impacting. Sharon Olds uses them in the way that she compares her daughter’s youth to her lack of youth. The poem chronologically goes through the process of the mother realizing and understanding that while she loses her youth, her daughter gains it. The first image she uses is stated very well and gives the reader a good understanding of the poem right of the bat. “Why is it/ just as we begin to go/ they begin to arrive.” (line 4-6) Then Olds starts to compare t
Old’s and Shakespeare have both used very important literary devices in their poems about losing youth. Old’s uses word choice and metaphors and similes to aid in the comparison of her loss of youth to her daughter’s gain of youthful beauty. Shakespeare uses these two devices as well to describe his fading youth and want of love. The authors needed to use these devices wisely, and did so in ways that got their points across even more, and left the reader with a deep understanding of what it’s like to watch youth disappear. Each author’s word choice is also very impacting on the full effect of the poems. The word choice is extremely important because the poems are really not that long and to get the full effect the authors must be careful so as not to waste any words. In Sharon Old’s poem, she uses very descriptive words to help compare a mother to a daughter. Gray, silver, dry pitting, and dud are some of the words used to describe the mother. They are more harsh in tone and aren’t words that would describe someone who is beautiful and young. Pitting, in fact, is a vile word that describes indentations or scarring of the skin. These words really aid in showing the reader that the mother really is losing her youthful beauty. At the same Old’s uses wonderful, beautiful words that show the reader that the daughter is coming of age and is starting to develop that beauty. Silken, pale, flower, full, and round describe the daughter. None of these words would be used to describe a woman in th! In Shakespeare’s sonnet, he also uses metaphors and similes to enhance the imagery. The first is very important to the poem because it gives the reader the understanding that he is growing old. “When yel
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Sharon Old’s,
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word choice,
,
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daughter coming,
“in thou seest,
reader understanding,
coming age,
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Approximate Word count = 1171
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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