Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2017

representation of old age is propounded in the incorporation of words like “scolds”,

“Forbidden”, “Stop, “Mustn’t” and “Don’t”. Cummings only uses capitalization when

describing old age, again promulgating the rigid and traditionalist representation. In the final

stanza, the paradoxical truth is revealed - not matter what old age does, “youth goes/ right on/

gr/ owing old”. The separation of “gr/owing old” suggests that youth is somehow indebted to

old age for trying to prevent the inevitable. Older generations beg for youth to slow down, but

it is the nature of the young to ignore warnings and charge towards adulthood, until they

themselves, become old age. Despite older generation’s best efforts to warn them, young people

must experience the process of life for themselves. This concept can be linked to the ideas in

Emily Dickenson’s poem Success is counted sweetest, where she introduces the concept that

to feel real appreciation, one must first be deprived. Dickenson writes that “To comprehend a

nectar/ Requires sorest need” (Dickenson, 1878) . In the same sense, young people must

experience life in order to learn – there are no warnings and advice that older generations can

give that will ever match the knowledge that comes from this experience. In this sense, old age

and youth are forever intertwined.

The focus on the irony of youth and the inevitable paradox of aging lends itself perfectly to the

search for a solution – staying young at heart. This involves retaining the youthful spirit and

spontaneous delight that is so evident in youth and entwining it into one’s outlook on life.

9