Old Men Complaining Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABBCCDDDDEEFGHHEEIID DDDIEEIDDJEEJ AKJDDLLDDMDDMA NNLCOPQQDD ADDDDRRSTSUUDDIIEDFD| First Old Man | A |
| He threw his crutched stick down there came | B |
| Into his face the anger flame | B |
| And he spoke viciously of one | C |
| Who thwarted him his son s son | C |
| He turned his head away I hate | D |
| Absurdity of language prate | D |
| From growing fellows We d not stay | D |
| About the house the whole of a day | D |
| When we were young | E |
| Keeping no job and giving tongue | E |
| Not us in troth We would not come | F |
| For bit or sup but stay from home | G |
| If we gave answers or we d creep | H |
| Back to the house and in we d peep | H |
| Just like a corncrake | E |
| My grandson and his comrades take | E |
| A piece of coal from you from me | I |
| A log or sod of turf maybe | I |
| And in some empty place they ll light | D |
| A fire and stay there all night | D |
| A wisp of lads Now understand | D |
| The blades of grass under my hand | D |
| Would be destroyed by company | I |
| There s no good company we go | E |
| With what is lowest to the low | E |
| He stays up late and how can he | I |
| Rise early Sure he lags in bed | D |
| And she is worn to a thread | D |
| With calling him his grandmother | J |
| She s an old woman and she must make | E |
| Stir when the birds are half awake | E |
| In dread he d lose this job like the other | J |
| - | |
| Second Old Man | A |
| They brought yon fellow over here | K |
| And set him up for an overseer | J |
| Though men from work are turned away | D |
| That thick necked fellow draws full pay | D |
| Three pounds a week They let burn down | L |
| The timber yard behind the town | L |
| Where work was good though firemen stand | D |
| In boots and brasses big and grand | D |
| The crow of a cock away from the place | M |
| And with the yard they let burn too | D |
| The clock in the tower the clock I knew | D |
| As well as I know the look in my face | M |
| Third Old Man | A |
| - | |
| The fellow you spoke of has broken his bounds | N |
| He came to skulk inside of these grounds | N |
| Behind the bushes he lay down | L |
| And stretched full hours in the sun | C |
| He rises now and like a crane | O |
| He looks abroad He s off again | P |
| Three pounds a week and still he owes | Q |
| Money in every street he goes | Q |
| Hundreds of pounds where we d not get | D |
| The second shilling of a debt | D |
| - | |
| First Old Man | A |
| Old age has every impediment | D |
| Vexation and discontent | D |
| The rich have more than we for bit | D |
| The cut of bread and over it | D |
| The scrape of hog s lard and for sup | R |
| Warm water in a cup | R |
| But different sorts of feeding breaks | S |
| The body more than fasting does | T |
| With pains and aches | S |
| I m not too badly off for I | U |
| Have pipe and tobacco a place to lie | U |
| A nook to myself but from my hand | D |
| Is taken the strength to back command | D |
| I m broken and there s gone from me | I |
| The privilege of authority | I |
| I heard them speak | E |
| The old men heavy on the sod | D |
| Letting their angers come | F |
| Between them and the thought of God | D |
Padraic Colum
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
About Old Men Complaining
Old Men Complaining is a poem by Padraic Colum. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
Write your comment about Old Men Complaining poem by Padraic Colum
Best Poems of Padraic Colum