A Man Young and Old: 11. the Secrets of the Old
A Man Young and Old: 11. the Secrets of the Old - meaning Summary
Older Women's Hidden Knowledge
The speaker describes belonging to a small circle of older women who share private knowledge and stories that younger people cannot imagine. Intimacy, memory, and desire are recounted in casual, almost domestic detail—tales of lovers, long marriages, and simple beds—that transform once-shameful or potent experiences into familiar lore. The poem reflects on aging as a shift from youthful passion to shared, quiet understanding and companionship.
Read Complete AnalysesI have old women's secrets now That had those of the young; Madge tells me what I dared not think When my blood was strong, And what had drowned a lover once Sounds like an old song. Though Margery is stricken dumb If thrown in Madge's way, We three make up a solitude; For none alive to-day Can know the stories that we know Or say the things we say: How such a man pleased women most Of all that are gone, How such a pair loved many years And such a pair but one, Stories of the bed of straw Or the bed of down.
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