Shakespeare And Olds Poetry Comparison

5 Pages 1171 Words

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 the daughter to the mother. “The fold in my neck/ clarifying as the fine bones of her hips sharpen.” (line 6-8) This image is important because it signifies that the young girl is starting to grow into her womanly figure by developing more pronounced hips. The next image describes the mother’s skin star!
ting to go and the daughter’s skin starting to bloom “like a small/ pale flower on the tip of a cactus.” (line 9-10) The simile used here provides a very descriptive image, making it easier to picture how the daughter is blossoming into her youthful stage of womanhood. Then Olds continues to describe this through the next image. “As my last chances to bear a child/ are falling through my bod...