An old women summary 4 stanza
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An introduction and occasion of the poem
The poem ‘An Old Woman’ gives a graphic picture of an old beggar woman. The decay of the old woman here symbolises the decay in our own lives. She grabs hold of the sleeve of a person and tags along with him till the person gives him a coin in alms. Like all other beggars, she insists on getting something from others. She is a poor woman who has lost the promises of her past and is reduced to the present state. The speaker, in the poem, views her squarely and becomes aware that decay has set in her person.
Summary of the poem
An old beggar woman catches hold of the sleeve of the speaker and insists on getting a fifty paisa con in alms. She tags along with him and promises that she will take him to the horseshoe temple. If he tells her that he has already seen the temple, she hobbles along with him and catches hold of his shirt tightly and again insists on getting a fifty paisa coin. She will not let him go. Like all other old women, she, too, sticks to him life a burr (prickly seed case of plants which stick to clothes). He turns around and wants to get rid or her. In order to end this useless activity, he tells her firmly to leave him. When she remarks,
“What else can an old woman do
On hills as wretched as these”.
He looks right at the sky in contemplation. As he looks on her, he finds that the cracks that begin around her eyes have spread beyond her skin. The decay of the old woman has spread to the hills and the temples and in our lives. The old woman stands there alone. And he is reduced to the small change in her hand.