'The Old Woman' by Joseph Campbell

• Joseph Campbell (1881-1944)  : 

     He was an Irish nationalist poet and mainly famous for his lyrical and simple poetry. His famous poem The Old Woman, describes the old-age beauty of an Old Woman. He re- looks the idea of beauty,  as mainly poets celebrate the beauty of a young lady however here poet beautifully represents the inner as well as the outer beauty of an Old Woman.  

                        As a  white candle

                          In a holy place,  

                          So is the beauty 

                          Of an aged face. 

      The poem is divided into three stanzas. In  the first stanza poet has compared the lady's face with a white candle. Here,  white candle represents the peace and light, that is what makes a human being happy in the life. But to get that bliss one needs to wait till the old age. We feel that poet has an optimistic vision towards the old age. It seems that lady has lived her youth fully and worked like a white candle : Itself burning but giving lightness to others. And that's what makes her face more shining.

                     As the spent radiance
                        Of the winter sun,
                             So is a woman
                    With her travail done. 

       In second stanza poet compares the old lady with the winter sun. In winter the soft rays of sun makes everyone better,  provides warmth,  likewise, old age shines because of the lots of hard work and vastness of heart. The Old Woman is at bliss as she has ' her travail done'.

               Her brood gone from her,
                And her thoughts as still
                         As the waters
                   Under a ruined mill. 

     At the end of the poem,  poet compares the old lady with the water under a ruined mill. As time has passed, the 'brood' of the Old lady has left the house, which makes her more emotional, what she wants is just to be with them. But things are now out of control as she has lost her importance.

      However, we can imagine so many things related to the old age,  where people have their life long experiences, and it becomes inevitable to accept the things as nature has given to the human beings.