On Reaching the Age of Fifty
Old Age, on tiptoe, lays her jewelled handLightly in mine.--Come, tread a stately measure,Most gracious partner, nobly poised and bland.Ours be no boisterous pleasure,But smiling conversation, with quick glanceAnd memories dancing lightlier than we dance,Friends who a thousand joysDivide and double, save one joy supremeWhich many a pang alloys.Let wanton girls and boysCry over lovers' woes and broken toys.Our waking life is sweeter than their dream.
Dame Nature, with unwitting hand,Has sparsely strewn the black abyss with lightsMinute, remote, and numberless. We standMeasuring far depths and heights,Arched over by a laughing heaven,Intangible and never to be scaled.If we confess our sins, they are forgiven.We triumph, if we know we failed.
Tears that in youth you shed,Congealed to pearls, now deck your silvery hair;Sighs breathed for loves long deadFrosted the glittering atoms of the airInto the veils you wearRound your soft bosom and most queenly head;The shimmer of your gownCatches all tints of autumn, and the dewOf gardens where the damask roses blew;The myriad tapers from these arches hungPlay on your diamonded crown;And stars, whose light angelical caressedYour virgin days,Give back in your calm eyes their holier rays.The deep past living in your breastHeaves these half-merry sighs;And the soft accents of your tongueBreathe unrecorded charities.
Hasten not; the feast will wait.This is a master-night without a morrow.No chill and haggard dawn, with after-sorrow,Will snuff the spluttering candle out,Or blanch the revellers homeward straggling late.Before the routWearies or wanes, will come a calmer trance.Lulled by the poppied fragrance of this bower,We'll cheat the lapsing hour,And close our eyes, still smiling, on the dance.
Words in this poem 21
- tiptoe n.
- The end, or tip, of the toe.
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- boisterous a.
- Rough or rude; unbending; unyielding; strong; powerful. [OE. boistous; of uncertain origin; cf. W. bwyst wild, savage, wildness, ferocity, bwystus ferocious.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- unwitting a.
- Not knowing; unconscious; ignorant.
- sparsely adv.
- In a scattered or sparse manner.
- numberless a.
- Innumerable; countless.
- intangible a.
- Not tangible; incapable of being touched; not perceptible to the touch; impalpable; imperceptible. Bp. Wilkins. [Pref. in- not + tangible: cf. F. intangible.]
- scaled a.
- Covered with scales, or scalelike structures; -- said of a fish, a reptile, a moth, etc.
- frosted a.
- Covered with hoarfrost or anything resembling hoarfrost; ornamented with frosting; also, frost-bitten; as, a frosted cake; frosted glass.
- queenly a.
- Like, becoming, or suitable to, a queen. [AS. cwenlic feminine.]
- shimmer v. i.
- To shine with a tremulous or intermittent light; to shine faintly; to gleam; to glisten; to glimmer. [OE. schimeren, AS. scimerian; akin to scimian, sciman, to glitter, D. schemeren, G. schimmern, Dan. skimre, Sw. skimra, AS. scima a light, brightness, Icel. ski]
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- diamonded a.
- Having figures like a diamond or lozenge.
- angelical a.
- Belonging to, or proceeding from, angels; resembling, characteristic of, or partaking of the nature of, an angel; heavenly; divine. [L. angelicus, Gr. angélique.]
- heaves n.
- A disease of horses, characterized by difficult breathing, with heaving of the flank, wheezing, flatulency, and a peculiar cough; broken wind.
- haggard a.
- Wild or intractable; disposed to break away from duty; untamed; as, a haggard or refractory hawk. Shak [F. hagard; of German origin, and prop. meaning, of the hegde or woods, wild, untamed. See Hedge, 1st Haw, and -ard.]
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- straggling a.
- from Straggle, v.
- calmer n.
- One who, or that which, makes calm.
- poppied a.
- Mingled or interspersed with poppies. [See 1st Poppy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Reaching the Age of Fifty is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #49721; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George Santayana, On Reaching the Age of Fifty, in Poems (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49721, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/santayana-poems/on-reaching-the-age-of-fifty.html, id L21753.
Form and metre
On Reaching the Age of Fifty is 48 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCCDEDDDE handA · measureB · blandA · pleasureB · glanceC · danceC · joysD · supremeE · alloysD · boysD · toysD · dreamE
- 2 ABAB-C-C handA · lightsB · standA · heightsB · heaven · scaledC · forgiven · failedC
- 3 ABABBACDDECFGGF-EG shedA · hairB · deadA · airB · wearB · headA · gownC · dewD · blewD · hungE · crownC · caressedF · daysG · raysG · breastF · sighs · tongueE · charitiesG
- 4 ABBCACDEED waitA · morrowB · sorrowB · outC · lateA · routC · tranceD · bowerE · hourE · danceD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Old Age, on tiptoe, lays her jewelled hand | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Lightly in mine.--Come, tread a stately measure, | 11 | /˘·····/˘/˘ |
| Most gracious partner, nobly poised and bland. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Ours be no boisterous pleasure, | 9 | /˘··/˘˘/˘ |
| But smiling conversation, with quick glance | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| And memories dancing lightlier than we dance, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Friends who a thousand joys | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Divide and double, save one joy supreme | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| Which many a pang alloys. | 7 | ·/˘··/· |
| Let wanton girls and boys | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Cry over lovers' woes and broken toys. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Our waking life is sweeter than their dream. | 10 | //˘··/˘··· |
| Dame Nature, with unwitting hand, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Has sparsely strewn the black abyss with lights | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Minute, remote, and numberless. We stand | 10 | ˘/˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Measuring far depths and heights, | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Arched over by a laughing heaven, | 10 | ·˘····/˘/˘ |
| Intangible and never to be scaled. | 10 | ˘/˘˘·/˘··· |
| If we confess our sins, they are forgiven. | 11 | ··˘//···˘/˘ |
| We triumph, if we know we failed. | 9 | ·/˘·····˘ |
| Tears that in youth you shed, | 6 | ······ |
| Congealed to pearls, now deck your silvery hair; | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Sighs breathed for loves long dead | 6 | ······ |
| Frosted the glittering atoms of the air | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Into the veils you wear | 6 | ······ |
| Round your soft bosom and most queenly head; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The shimmer of your gown | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Catches all tints of autumn, and the dew | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Of gardens where the damask roses blew; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| The myriad tapers from these arches hung | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Play on your diamonded crown; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And stars, whose light angelical caressed | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Your virgin days, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Give back in your calm eyes their holier rays. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The deep past living in your breast | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Heaves these half-merry sighs; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And the soft accents of your tongue | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Breathe unrecorded charities. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Hasten not; the feast will wait. | 7 | /˘····· |
| This is a master-night without a morrow. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| No chill and haggard dawn, with after-sorrow, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Will snuff the spluttering candle out, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Or blanch the revellers homeward straggling late. | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Before the rout | 4 | ···· |
| Wearies or wanes, will come a calmer trance. | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Lulled by the poppied fragrance of this bower, | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| We'll cheat the lapsing hour, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And close our eyes, still smiling, on the dance. | 10 | ··/··/˘··· |
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