Grade 10

Name:………………

Nearing Forty
by Derek Walcott
‘Nearing Forty’ by Derek Walcott is a lyric that is addressed to John Figueroa, a
Jamaican poet. The poem is not a poem that only centers on the life of
Figueroa. It’s an expression of a poet who is nearing forty and how his mind
floods with the thoughts of present and past. Age isn’t a number for the poet.
It’s an hourglass that reminds the poet about the time still left and the things
that can’t return. Age changes not only the physical attributes of a person but
it also changes the way of seeing things. And, in this poem, the poet refers to
this unavoidable change that is natural and pathetic as well.

Summary
‘Nearing Forty’ by Derek Walcott describes how age blurs a poet’s vision and
bends his poetic imagination.

‘Nearing Forty’ by Derek Walcott presents an insomniac poetic persona who is

listening to the sound of rainfall. The cold wind due to the rainfall makes him
shiver. This sensation reminds him of his age. He is nearing forty, a big
number, that can turn a poet’s world upside down. He starts to think of his
early writings as  “the bleak modesty of middle age”. Moreover, according to
the poet, age brings cynicism in a poet’s mind. His eyes start to weaken and
his imagination becomes gloomy. Apart from that, in the poem, he converses
with a person who is also nearing his forties. The poet shares how the person
thought in earlier days and what is going to happen with his imagination after
reaching forty years.
Structure
‘Nearing Forty’ by Derek Walcott is written from a first-person point-of-view.
Hence, it is an example of a modern lyric. However, in the poem the poet talks
with a person who is also nearing his forties. It also makes the poem an
example of a dramatic monologue. This thirty-three lines long poem doesn’t
have any stanza divisions nor it has full-stops. Only the last line contains a full-
stop and the thought process of the poet ends there. The poem flows like a
chain of thoughts without any breaks. This writing scheme is called the
stream-of-consciousness technique.

However, the poet uses both the regular rhyme and the slant rhyme in the
poem. As an example, in the first four lines, “narrow” and “marrow” contain a
regular rhyming scheme. And, “rain” and “pane” contain a slant rhyme. Apart
from that, the poem consists of the iambic meter and trochaic meter. The
mixed metrical scheme makes the flow of the poem more rhythmic. At any
point, the sound of the poem doesn’t seem monotonous for its interesting use
of rising and falling rhythm.

Literary Devices
‘Nearing Forty’ by Derek Walcott makes use of the enjambment throughout
the poem. It helps the poet to internally connect the lines without breaking
the rhythm. There is a metaphor in the comparison of rain’s sound to a “rigidly
metred” song. Personification is also there in the poem and it can be seen in
the line, “… as its coolness numbs the marrow”. In this line, “marrow” contains
a synecdoche. However, the poet uses another metaphor to compare the

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dimming vision at the age of forty to “a frosted pane”. The poet also uses
several imagery and symbols in the poem. The imagery of “false dawn” for
representing the quality of the poet’s early works is interesting enough.

Moreover, the poet uses an epigram in the line where he talks about the
significance of simplicity in versification. While talking about the pages on
which Walcott wrote poems, he uses a beautiful simile. But, the essence of the
line somehow appears as an irony. Apart from that the poet also
uses alliteration. As an example, “simple, shining” and “bleaching bedsheet”
contain the repetition of the same consonant sound. The repetition of the
consonant sound makes these phrases examples of consonances too.
Moreover, there are a lot more similes present in the lines, “ambition as a
searing meteor”, “for vision narrower than a louvre’s gap”, “as greenhorns at
school”, and “as the new moon moves it”. In the end, the poet uses a pathetic
fallacy that justly reflects the mood of the poem.

An epigram is a short, witty, and sometimes surprising

statement. It can stand-alone or be part of a novel or poem.

Detailed Analysis
Lines 1–8
Insomniac since four, hearing this narrow,
(…)
as a false dawn, fireless and average,

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‘Nearing Forty’ by Derek Walcott begins with auditory imagery of the “early-
rising rain”. The sound appears to the poet as a narrow and rigidly metred
song. The sound makes the poet recount his old days but the cold wind makes
his bones quiver. It reminds him of his age. He is nearing the age of forty.
Forty, the number, seems to trouble the poet. His eyes would dim and his
vision would become hazy. Here, the poet uses an image of ice thickening on
a “frosted pane” to compare it with the hazy vision in old age.

Moreover, the poet thinks age transforms the mindset of a person. Likewise,

the poet may judge his works as if those were filled with bleak medievalism.
The new-born cynic inside the poet might treat his poetic inspiration to false
dawn. The metaphor used in this phrase also reflects the pessimistic attitude
of the old poet. However, the other metaphors “fireless” and “average” also
represents how the poet’s mood floods with gloom and hopelessness with the
thought of him being old.

Lines 9–15
which would be just, because your life bled for
(…)
of occasional insight,
In this section of ‘Nearing Forty’ by Derek Walcott, the speaker justifies the
theme of his early works. According to the poet, his early works dealt with
“household truth” that were either unheard or remained buried. His stylistics
never welcomed ornamental metaphors into his poetry. The poet fought and
bled for the truth like a soldier and gave exemplary expressions an
embodiment of simplicity. The lines of the poems he composed were lucid
and that still shines in the poet’s inner vision.

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In contrast, in the upcoming lines, the poet metaphorically compares the
“household truth” to the rainwater that gutters through a “rainspout” or a
spout that drains rainwater from the roof. And, the pages on which he wrote
his early verse was like “a bleaching bedsheet”. Thereafter, the poet refers to
the “sputter”, a metaphor for criticism, his works got from the occasional
insight. Here, the poet uses synecdoche and refers to insightful persons or
literary critics.

Lines 16–25
you who foresaw
(…)
call conventional for convectional;
In this section of ‘Nearing Forty’ by Derek Walcott, the poet invokes John
Figueroa in his poem. Figueroa was also nearing his forties. There was a time
when he was an ambitious poet like “a searing meteor”. But, now he smiles at
his youthful imagination. Here, the poet depicts an imaginary picture of
Figueroa lighting a “damp match” and settling a “dented kettle”. The phrases
present here such as “damp match” and “dry wheezing of dented kettle” are
the metaphorical reference to Figueroa’s present state. He has lost the energy
and enthusiasm like a “damp match” and age has created indentation like an
old kettle. In this way, Walcott presents how a person changes in his old age
and becomes more passive at heart. The experiences that life has taught a
person, makes him more calculative and cautious in his future.

Moreover, in the upcoming lines, the poet compares the weakening of vision
to the “louvre’s gap”. Thereafter, he talks about the cynical attitude of the old
Figueroa. According to the poet, he might judge the amount of rainfall
cynically by only referring to the rainfall at the year’s end. However, the poet

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creates a contrast in the last few lines of this section. When the poet was in
school, he mistakenly pronounced the convectional rain as “conventional” rain.
By using the word “conventional” the poet intends an irony. That one who
once tried to become unique, at his old age he becomes a mere conventional
person.

Lines 26–33
or you will rise and set your lines to work
(…)
even when it seems to weep.
In the last section of ‘Nearing Forty’ by Derek Walcott, the poet tells his fellow
poet that he can start to write again. There will be “sadder joy”, an oxymoron,
for the loss of his youthful optimism. But, there will be a “steadier elation”,
another oxymoron, for the experience he had now as a mature man.
Moreover, the poet sighs for the weakening of the imagination power both in
him and his friend. Here, he uses the metaphor of ebbing of the seawater to
compare it to the loss of vibrant imagination in the poet’s old-age.

In the last few lines, the poet ironically refers to measuring the “force of lightly
falling rain” for comparing the process to his versification. However, in the
end, the poet uses a pathetic fallacy to refer to the moon’s weeping as a
reaction to the poet’s present state.

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Historical Context
‘Nearing Forty’ by Derek Walcott is dedicated to his fellow poet John Figueroa.
John Joseph Maria Figueroa was a Jamaican poet and became associated with
Walcott later in his life. Here, in this poem, the poet talks about old-age that
changes both the poet and Figueroa. The poet captures how they would think
in the future. Moreover, he creates a contrasting image of the poet’s youth
and old-age in this poem.

Similar Poetry
Like ‘Nearing Forty’ by Derek Walcott, the following poems present a similar
kind of theme.

 When You Are Old by William Butler Yeats – Here, William Butler

Yeats talks about the effect of old-age on love.
 Beautiful Old Age by D.H. Lawrence – Here, D.H. Lawrence describes the
beauty of old-age.
 Old Men by Ogden Nash – Here, Ogden Nash talks about how old men
react to death.
 Old Men by Kenneth Fearing – Here, Kenneth Fearing presents the lives
and hopes of the older people.

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