The Age of Wisdom by William Makepeace Thackeray

Throughout his life, William Makepeace Thackeray wrote many poems that are now celebrated. Religious faith is a common thing that we will find in his poems.

“The Age of Wisdom” is also one of Thackeray’s poems that gets attention from the readers. The publication date is not fixed but we can say that this poem was written in his middle age.

Summary and Analysis

In the first line, the poet is addressing by calling ‘pretty page’ that has a pair of dimple chin. Maybe, the poet is addressing someone that is not clear so far.

The dimple never knows to decide a barber. Now the speaker says addressing the person that it wants a woman to win. In this way, the boys begin their journey and they need to wait till their age will reach forty.

The first stanza of the poem says something will happen when people will reach at their middle age. The second stanza begins with the line,

“ Curly gold locks cover foolish brains,
Billing and cooing is all your cheer;
Sighing and singing of midnight strains,”

Here, the poet is uttering what will happen when the age will be forty. The curly, golden hairs will cover the scalp and the cooling, cheering days will be gone.

They will be shying to sing a song at the mid-night under ‘Bonnybell’s window panes’. These are all things that will happen and that is why the poet is asking to wait until the age of forty.

In the third stanza, he is again giving references to life before reaching the age of forty. ‘Michaelmas’ is a Christian festival that will also pass forty times and the grizzling hairs will clear the brain.

“Then you know a boy is an ass,
Then you know the worth of a lass,
Once you have come to Forty Year.”

Now the poet is uttering that they will get to know the boy is actually an ass and then you will be known it is worth of a lass( little girl).

After that, the person will come at the age of forty. This is an age of middle time of life where people face the meaning of life.

In the fourth stanza, Thackeray begins with another imagination where he is uttering to pledge him round and he will declare something.

Then he is saying dedicated to the person who has a grey beard will get burned and change to white when the time will come and fetch them to death. Even a month will pass and men will be more older.

Then the poet takes another image of kissing where a person is kissing his beloved’s eyes that has been shown. The brightest eyes have seen it.

Many prayers, and whispers are there but these all would be missing when the time will go to forty. Gillian’s death will come and god will let her stay in the coffin.

The poet loved her for twenty years. But now the poet sits in his house and there is Merry along with her who is now at forty. Maybe he is looking at her and telling about her thinking.

Then Thackeray dips his nose into the wine glass. This is the whole poem where he is highlighting the changes that would take place in the future.

Theme

Death is one of the major themes of the poem. Throughout the poem, Thackeray is highlighting that man will be old and when clothed will come to forty they will gain many experiences and also will get close to death.

Himan’s expert also gets attention in the poem. Thackeray says hair will be burned to white by experience. Except that, the passing of months and days also provokes the readers that they will die.

Literary Devices

‘The Age of Wisdom’ is a poem of six stanzas where we will find five lines in each stanza. The rhyming pattern of the poem is ‘abaaB cbccB dbddb bebbe faffa bXbba’.

We can fund a perfect meter of the poem that is iambic tetrameter.

Synecdoche is one of the major fringes of speeches where a particular line or a part spe6the whole sense.

“Wait till you come to Forty years.”

Then comes Anaphora. Anaphora is the repetition of the same words at the beginning of two lines one after another just like,

“Then you know a boy is an ass,
Then you know the worth of a lass,”

Alliteration is also another form of rhetorical device that means the repetition of the same sounds in the line. An example is,

“wise is woman to win”

Here, the ‘w’ sound is being repeated. And,

“Marian’s married, but I sit here”

Symbolism is another literary device. ‘Grizzling hair’ is addressing the young age or the youth which is why it becomes a symbol.

These are all relevant poetic devices that Thackeray uses here.