Studies of the head of an old man, by Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641), a painting held today in the Rockox House Museum in van Dyck’s birthplace of Antwerp in Belgium. Van Dyck became court painter to Charles I in 1632, and was much admired by Edmund Waller, who wrote of him:
Strange! that thy hand should not inspire
The beauty only, but the fire;
Not the form alone and grace
But the art and power of the face.
Introduction
A great deal is made today of the advantages of youth in benefiting society. Edmund Waller, a poet who sat in the Commons for over fifty years, was no less impressed by the advantages of old age — which not only renew our usefulness for this world, but also ready us for a better one.
THE seas are quiet when the winds give o’er;
So calm are we when passions* are no more.
For then we know how vain it was to boast
Of fleeting things, so certain to be lost.
Clouds of affection from our younger eyes
Conceal that emptiness which age descries.
The soul’s dark cottage, batter’d and decay’d,
Lets in new light through chinks that Time hath made:
Stronger by weakness, wiser men become
As they draw near to their eternal home.
Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view
That stand upon the threshold of the new.
From ‘The Poems Edmund Waller’ Vol. 2 (1901) edited by G. Thorn Drury.
* A passion, according to Dr Johnson’s famous dictionary, is “a violent commotion of the mind”. He also quotes Isaac Watts: “The word passion signifies the receiving any action, in a large philosophical sense; in a more limited philosophical sense, it signifies any of the affections of human nature, as love, fear, joy, sorrow: but the common people confine it only to anger.”
Questions for Critics
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.
Précis
(1 / 60 words)
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 5 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly -5 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, because, just, must, otherwise, since, whether, who.
Archive
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Boast. Give. Old.
2 Empty. Know. Man.
3 Sea. Strong. Weakness.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Adjectives Find in Think and Speak
For each word below, compose sentences to show that it may be used as an adjective. Adjectives provide extra information about a noun, e.g. a black cat, a round table, the early bird etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Young. 2 Homeless. 3 Dark. 4 Quiet. 5 Oldest. 6 Strong. 7 Known. 8 Empty. 9 Older.
Variations: 1.show whether your adjective can also be used as e.g. a noun, verb or adverb. 2.show whether your adjective can be used in comparisons (e.g. good/better/best). 3.show whether your adjective can be used in attributive position (e.g. a dangerous corner) and also in predicate position (this corner is dangerous).
Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 View. 2 Let. 3 Cloud. 4 Eye. 5 Draw. 6 Wind. 7 Become. 8 Make. 9 Leave.
Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
bstd (5)
basted. bested. boasted. boosted. busted.
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