Seniors

northwestprimetime.com

I have a copy of a collection of Walt Whitman's works (poems) copyrighted first in1885 followed by several additional copyrights. This volume was printed in 1942. It sits silently on an unmolested (for the most part) shelf. I opened it up and here is what appeared:

BEAUTIFUL WOMEN

Women sit or move to and fro, some old, some young.
The young are beautiful—but the old are more beautiful than the young.

I browsed some more and here is what popped off the page:

Youth, large, lusty, loving—youth full of grace, force, fascination.
Do you know that Old Age may come after you with equal grace, force, fascination?
Day full—blown and splendid—day of the the immense sun, action, ambition, laughter,
The Night follows close with millions of suns, and sleep and restoring darkness.

Having worked in senior residences and now a resident in one, never until these latter years have I been surrounded with so many seniors. And being one of them is why Walt Whitman's remarks of a century and a half ago unexpectedly caught my attention.

True, there is a certain amount of disparity between seniors and those who haven't lived long enough to merit thatentitlement. Beautiful Women is a compliment whether young or old, and for some reason Whitman believed that the old are more beautiful than the young. I doubt if Walt was blind so he had something else in mind.

Seniors may lose some lusty loving, grace, force, fascination but he argues that Old Age may come after them with equal grace, force and fascination. Those days full of force and fascination like the sun are followed by night with millions of suns and sleep which restores darkness

You do know I'm sure that poets can be difficult to decipher and our interpretations may agree or collide with theirs. So, we'll let Walt Whitman slumber in peace while we argue or agree with him that Old Age could come later with equal grace, force and fascination. Until then, let no one despise either the young or the elderly until we know better.