“You Are Old, Father William” Summary

“You Are Old, Father William” Themes

• 

  Age, Vitality, and Exuberance

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• 

  Youthful Disrespect and Old-Age Stereotypes

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “You Are Old, Father William”

• Lines 1-4

  "You are old, Father William," the young man said,
  "And your hair has become very white;
  And yet you incessantly stand on your head—
  Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  "In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
  "I feared it might injure the brain;
  But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
  Why, I do it again and again."

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  "You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
  And have grown most uncommonly fat;
  Yet you turned a back somersault in at the door—
  Pray, what is the reason of that?"

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  "In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
  "I kept all my limbs very supple
  By the use of this ointment—one shilling the box—
  Allow me to sell you a couple?"

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  "You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak
  For anything tougher than suet;
  Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak—
  Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-24

  "In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
  And argued each case with my wife;
  And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
  Has lasted the rest of my life."

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-28

  "You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
  That your eye was as steady as ever;
  Yet, you balanced an eel on the end of your nose—
  What made you so awfully clever?"

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 29-32

  "I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
  Said his father. "Don't give yourself airs!
  Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
  Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!"

  

  

  

  

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“You Are Old, Father William” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Dialogue

  

  

  

  

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• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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“You Are Old, Father William” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Incessantly
• Back somersault
• Supple
• Ointment
• Shilling
• Suet
• Airs
• Stuff

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “You Are Old, Father William”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“You Are Old, Father William” Speaker

“You Are Old, Father William” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “You Are Old, Father William”

More “You Are Old, Father William” Resources

• External Resources

  • A Reading of the Poem — Listen to a reading of "You Are Old, Father William" (complete with silly voices).

  • The Poem in Context — Read the poem as it appears in Chapter 5 of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, along with John Tenniel's famous illustrations.

  • The Song Set to Music — Listen to They Might Be Giants's musical adaptation of the poem.

  • The Source of the Parody — Read Robert Southey's "The Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them" (1799), the poem that "You Are Old, Father William" parodies.

  • The Poet's Life and Work — Read a biography of Carroll via the Poetry Foundation.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Lewis Carroll

  • Jabberwocky

  • The Walrus and the Carpenter