Explication: on Aging Poem by Maya Angelou

On Aging a poem by Maya Angelou, the poet describes feelings as an aging person, who is growing older and tired. Sharing how the elderly shouldn’t be pitied or secluded just because one is growing older and gets tired easier. “On Aging” teaches us that as a society that we have been either ignoring our elderly population or treating them like they are too frail to do things for themselves. Maya Angelou’s use of tone for this poem is what really sets this poem into motion.

The simile in this poem Maya compares herself to a bag sitting on a shelf. So that a connection that could be made from just those two lines alone would be that looking at this older woman sitting alone, like something we want to put up and away from harm, so they couldn’t be hurt or bothered with. Or even something that we have put up and pushed to the back of the shelf and forgotten. But then she quickly lets us know that we don’t need to pretend were interested in her or her day or even feel sorry for her just because she’s elderly. That the only way she wants us to interrupt her from her own thoughts is that if were genuinely interested and understand what she’s going through. Hold! Stop! Don’t pity me!Hold! Stop your sympathy!Understanding if you got it,Otherwise I’ll do without it! (5-8)As the poet has grown older, somethings have become a little more difficult, and wants us to know her wishes: “I will only ask one favor/ don’t bring me no rocking chair” (11-12). The rocking chair represents more than just a chair, the poet doesn’t want to be put in a nursing home, or bound to wheel chair, and not be able to continue living the life like she has been for as long as possible. The poet wants us to see that even when walking shakily or stumbling that its not out of laziness. The poet wants to say that just because someone leaves doesn’t mean they are gone forever. That even though the poet has grown older, and her physical appearance has changed, and bodily functions are starting to deteriorate the poet is still the same person the poet was when the poet was younger.

This piece of didactic literature is a great reminder to the younger generations that while our family members or elders in society grow older. They my physically change with “A little less hair, a little less chin/ A lot less lungs and much less wind” (18-19). , but emotionally they still want to be recognized as a normal person. They don’t want us to feel bad or sorry for them because they are maybe a little slower or trying to re-learn how to do certain things as they get older. They want us to understand that things might take them a little longer, but they still want the freedom to do these things on their own. Then the poet wants to let us know that even though she is aging and growing older, she is still happy to be alive and breathing. And, that one should not to try to feel obligated to try to have a conversation out of sympathy, because while the poet might appear to be alone. That the poet might be thinking to herself, observing her own memories and looking back on her life. All the poet really wants is understanding and compassion, and if you can’t do that, then don’t do anything.

References

1. Ramsey, P. R. (1984). Transcendence: The Poetry of Maya Angelou. A Current Bibliography on African Affairs, 17(2), 139-153. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001132558501700204?journalCode=cbaa)
2. DeGout, Y. Y. (2005). The poetry of Maya Angelou: Liberation ideology and technique. The Langston Hughes Review, 19, 36-47. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/26434636)
3. Johnson, F. (2014). The very best of Maya Angelou: The voice of inspiration. Frank Johnson. (https://www.scribd.com/book/247104182/The-Very-Best-of-Maya-Angelou-The-Voice-of-Inspiration)