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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
OLD AND OUT, by WALT MASON Poet's Biography
First Line: I heard the down-and-outer say, 'I'm
Last Line: Pass, if he will blithely do his stunt with cheerful and undaunted front.
Subject(s): Old Age
First Line: I heard the down-and-outer say, 'I'm
Last Line: Pass, if he will blithely do his stunt with cheerful and undaunted front.
Subject(s): Old Age
I HEARD the down-and-outer say, "I'm canned because I'm old and gray. Employers
shoo me from their doors; they want young men to do their chores. I know I'm
long on sterling worth, but there's no place for me on earth, no job for me
beneath the moon, for I was born some years too soon. Youth must be served, and
age must slide down where the dump is yawning wide." I've often heard this
dismal spiel from gents panhandling for a meal, but in my daily walks I find
that old boys do not fall behind, if they still keep their smiles on straight,
and keep their habits up to date. Too many old men sing this song, that every
modern thing is wrong. They're always talking of the past, and so they're also-
rans at last. A man's gray hair will cut no grass, if he can make things come to
pass, if he will blithely do his stunt with cheerful and undaunted front.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
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A WINTER ODE TO THE OLD MEN OF LUMMUS PARK, / MIAMI, FLORIDA by DONALD JUSTICE
AFTER A LINE BY JOHN PEALE BISHOP by DONALD JUSTICE
TO HER BODY, AGAINST TIME by ROBERT KELLY