Image: “The Old Man’s Comforts and How He Gained Them,” adapted from Image by James de Castro James from Pixabay – Pixabay License

• INTRODUCTION
• VIDEO BY ALICE
• CREDITS
  • VIDEO CREDITS
  • MORE INFORMATION
  • ADDENDUM

INTRODUCTION

Dear Ones,

Here is the didactic or ‘teaching’ poem “The Old Man’s Comforts and How He Gained Them” by Robert Southey …

VIDEO BY ALICE

This video was also published on youtube channel: Alice Clagett-Personal

THE POEM

“The Old Man’s Comforts and How He Gained Them”
A Poem by Robert Southey (1805, public domain)

“You are old, Father William, the young man cried,
The few locks which are left you are grey;
You are hale, Father William, a hearty old man,
Now tell me the reason I pray.

“In the days of my youth, Father William replied,
I remember’d that youth would fly fast,
And abused not my health and my vigour at first
That I never might need them at last.

“You are old, Father William, the young man cried,
And pleasures with youth pass away,
And yet you lament not the days that are gone,
Now tell me the reason I pray.

“In the days of my youth, Father William replied,
I remember’d that youth could not last;
I thought of the future whatever I did,
That I never might grieve for the past.

“You are old, Father William, the young man cried,
And life must be hastening away;
You are chearful, and love to converse upon death!
Now tell me the reason I pray.

“I am chearful, young man, Father William replied,
Let the cause thy attention engage;
In the days of my youth I remember’d my God!
And He hath not forgotten my age.”

–from Link: “The Old Man’s Comforts and How He Gained Them,” in Wikisource … https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Old_Man%27s_Comforts_and_How_He_Gained_Them …

CONCLUSION

That’s it … the poem “You Are Old, Father William” by Lewis Carroll.

God bless you all,
And keep you safe,
And be with you
Through all your days.

In love, light and joy
This is Alice B. Clagett.
I Am of the Stars … and so are you!

Come and visit me at my worldclass website “Awakening with Planet Earth” … https://awakeningwithplanetearth.com ..

Filmed on 30 January 2026 and published on 3 February 2026

VIDEO CREDITS

WAIT for the ADDENDUM at the end of the Credits!
I feel certain it will be worth the wait!

VIDEO CREDITS

“The Old Man’s Comforts and How He Gained Them”
A Poem by Robert Southey
From his 1805 book “Metrical Tales &c. by Robert Southey”
public domain

Read by Alice B. Clagett

Filmed on 30 January 2026 and produced on 3 February 2026
Location: Malibu Creek State Park, Santa Monica Mountains, Los Angeles, CA

Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 International –
By Alice B. Clagett

MORE INFORMATION

This poem has been a favorite of parodists (that is, people who write parodies) for more than 200 years.

One of the most famous of these was Lewis Carroll, who wrote the parody “You Are Old, Father William.”

I myself feel it’s good to appreciate the original as well as the clever parodies.

After all, who could write a parody without referencing another man’s creative effort?

So, let us dreamers and poets and creative writers continue … undaunted … despite the slings and arrows of outrageous (and downright funny) parodists.

So say I. What is your stance on this? Your comments are welcome.

–Alice B. Clagett

ADDENDUM

At the spoken words “In the days of my youth …” an airplane begins to pass over.

Amongst Hawks in the Santa Monica Mountains of California, airplanes are felt to be the vehicle (or chariot) of the Hawk God (as I feel sure you may already know).

Hawk cries out: Fear, Fear, Fear, Fear!

The sound of the Hawk God’s chariot grows louder.

At the spoken words “That I never might need them to last …” (and following),
a Mountain Lion speaks, in a low, gruff voice, to the Hawk God.

He speaks to the great power of the Hawk God, and the threat of War implied by the roar of the Hawk God’s Chariot.

Mountain Lion then proposes a Peace Pact as being beneficial both to the Hawk God and to his Mountain Lion Clan.

. . .

As you can see, Hawks and Mountain Lions have intriguingly different oral traditions
from those of humankind.

We species of Planet Earth may learn many things, each from the other, in the coming times.

Here is a good example of that. Peace is, I feel, an attractive notion for all Earth beings.

. . . . .

Alice’s website is “Awakening with Planet Earth” … https://awakeningwithplanetearth.com ..

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). Attribution: By Alice B. Clagett.
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culture, poetry appreciation, Robert Southey,