Old Man, Old Man

1
Old Man, Old Man
Box B pictures of disinherited children Your
surliness world authority Lord adjuster of
environments timetabled cigarette A man who
did-it-himself not good with daughters
Box A his hands shamble among clues you
ramble/In your talk fretting your contracted
world living in almost dark you tried not to
cry Your helplessness
Look at the two different descriptions. What
impression do you have of the person described in
the boxes? Write a sentence summarising their
character.
2
Old Man, Old Man
Page 32
Surliness moodiness, gruffness Disinherited
excluded/rejected from family or right to family
bonds Fretting worrying Contracted made
smaller Shamble shuffle, reach around for
3
Old Man, Old Man
Page 32

• What do you think her (the narrators) opinion is
  of the man NOW (Box A) and IN THE PAST (Box B).
• Overall?
• Write a line for your responses.

4
More vocabulary

• connoisseur expert
• complement range
• demoted opposite of promoted
• obdurate stubborn, hardhearted

5
Final three stanzas

• Old man, old man,
• So obdurate in your contracted world,
• Living in almost-dark, I can see you
• You said to me, but only as a cloud.
• When I left, you tried not to cry. I love
• Your helplessness, you who hate being helpless.
• Let me find your hammer. Let me
• Walk with you to Drury Lane. I am only a cloud

6
Final three stanzas

• These lines alter the way in which we read the
  rest of the poem. It no longer seems to be just
  about the man, but about his relationship with
  the narrator.
• What do these lines suggest about the
  relationship between these two people in the
  past?
• How has it changed? What does the narrator hope
  it will be like in the future?

7
The Past vs The Present

• Use a coloured key to underline/highlight the
  phrases that refer to the man in the past and in
  the present.
• Notice how many of these are almost opposites
  U.A. Fanthorpe cleverly shows the contrast
  between stubborn masculinity and absent-minded
  senility

8
Oppositions

• Underline one example of each of these
  oppositions
• words to do with control and weakness
• words to do with authority and incompetence
• memories and descriptions of the present
• poetic and colloquial (or everyday) language
• descriptions of feelings and descriptions of
  objects
• thoughts and speech
• references to the old man in the third person
  (he) and the second person (you)

9
Written Response

• Analyse one of the oppositions or themes in this
  poem in a short paragraph.
• Here is an example using the authority versus
  incompetence

10

• The words to do with authority are mainly
  associated with the man and are found in the
  sections of the poem describing the past. The
  words to do with weakness refer mainly to the old
  man what he has become in the present. They
  suggest he is no longer the powerful,
  authoritative perhaps frightening figure he
  once was. He is now dependent on his daughter who
  loves his helplessness. However, the repetition
  of the word Let in the final verse makes it
  sound as though she is still having to plead to
  be allowed to do anything to help.