Lines for an Old Man

Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns)

Primary Category: Literature / Poetry

Genre: Poem

Annotated by:
Coulehan, Jack
  • Date of entry: Jan-17-1995

Summary

An old man speaks his anger, bitterness, and rage: "The tiger in the tiger pit / Is not more irritable than I." His "hissing over the arched tongue" is an experience "inaccessible by the young."

Commentary

This is a short, marvelously crafted poem about some aspects of aging.

Primary Source

Collected Poems 1909-1962

Publisher

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Place Published

New York

Edition

1964