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Let Not An Old Age Disgrace My High Desire- Sir Philip Sidney, Let not old age disgrace my high desire,, O heavenly soul, in human shape contained:, Old wood inflamed doth yield the bravest fire,, When younger doth in smoke his virtue spend., Nor let white hairs,which on my face do grow,, Seem to your eyes of a disgraceful hue,, Since whiteness doth present the sweetest show,, Which makes all eyes do homage unto you, Old age is wise and full of constant truth;, Old age well stayed from ranging humor lives;, Old age hath known what ever was in youth:, Old age o’ercome, the greater honor gives:, And to old age since you yourself aspire,, Let not old age disgrace my high desire., Sir Philip Sidney -. Sir Philip Sidney was born at Penhurst. He was the second child of Sir Henry Sidney. He was patronized by his uncle, the Earl of Leicester. In the summer of 1575, he met Penelope, the Stella of his sonnet sequence ‘Astrophel and Stella’ . He along with his friends started a literary society called the Aero-pagins. Sidney , with his qualities of head and heart, earned reputation as a poet. Sidney also, wrote “Arcadia” and his “Apology for poetry”. In 1586, he got seriously wounded in the battle of Zulphen and he passed away. He was one of the best sonnetteers of Elizabethan period. He made his name among the contemporary poets like Edmund Spenser, Shakespeare , Michael Drayton and Samuel Daniel., “Let Not Old Age Disgrace My High Desire ” is a very thoughtful sonnet written by Philip Sidney. In this sonnet he underlines the virtues of old age. The poet does not allow the old age to discourage his high spirit. Sidney , the speaker emphasizes both the open endedness and reticence upon which the notion of the poem gently underlines., Let not old age……… ……….. in human shaped contained:, Here, the poem begins and the poet says that the old age should not affect his high desire. Human life is the gift of the god. It is heavenly soul. He says that the old age has its own benefits. The poet does not allow the old age to discourage his high spirit. He thinks human life to be a god given gift. Here, he addresses the soul, that you have been sent into the world by God in human shape or as human to fulfill your desires and you should be aware about your desires, happiness in the whole life., Old wood inflamed doth…. … smoke his virtue spend., He says that the old age has its own benefits. Just as the old wood gives the blazing fire, the old have is full of fire. It is like a seasoned wood. In order to stress the virtue of old age , he has given the example of old wood. He says that the old wood gives the bravest fire whereas the younger wood seethes with smoke. And when we are young we waste our energy in useless things. So the poet asks us not to make fun of his white hair because the whiteness represents sweetness and pleasure in life. The poet requests us not to look disgracefully at the white hair on his face because whiteness is the symbol of sweetness and maturity. He says let not white hairs spoiled your wishes that grow on your face., Since whiteness doth … ….Do homage unto you., Here,the poet says that fulfill your ambitions since old age would create obstacles in your present life. He means to say that until all person pay a tribute to you fulfill your all desires properly. When people start to give respect and homage you can’t fulfill your ambitions, so before it try to fulfill all your demands and desires., Old age is wise and full……from ranging humor lives:, The characteristic shift from juvenile to mature in the third quatrain could predominantly be identified by the words ‘wise’, ‘well-stayed’ and ‘the greater honor’. He further says that old age is wise. It is full of constant truth. It doesn’t allow to waste time in humor i.e doing meaningless things. The age is full of wisdom and constant truth. An old man has life experience and meaningful thoughts. Now , he is far away from the meaningless activities and has a great respect. At this point , he start to neglect what once he has encountered by impinging the wisdom and confidence to the thoughts of welcoming old age. A person get greater honour in his old age because old people have a lot of experience. It enables a person to avoid the mistakes done in young age. It is full of worldly experience and gives greater honour. Therefore you should not be afraid of old age. This huge experience and honour inspires an old man to live his life, this honour make him vitalized and strong enough to compete the failures of his life. The last two lines cleverly conclude the mentations that Sidney is attempting to find beforehand. In line 13, he again shows that he is never intended to be explicated and describe to have aspiration depicting hope and dreams in life he now wishes to stay in. Therefore , you should not be ashamed of old age. The poet repeats that the old age shouldn’t discourage his high spirit. He appreciates beings in his old age., The poem is a sonnet having the end-rhyme scheme as ABAB , CDCD , EFEF , GG. There is an example of a metaphors ‘old wood’ stands for old age. Just as the old wood gives the blazing fire, the old age is full of blazing energy. The poet has used the plural form of hair as ‘hairs’. Although it is a grammatical mistake, the poets are allowed to break the rules of grammar under the poetic licence. There are some archaic words- doth,unto,hath.