Most of the references in this bibliography are from Literature and Gerontology: A Research Guide (1995), Robert E. Yahnke and Richard M. Eastman, published by Greenwood Press, Westport, CT. This text also provides information on anthologies that incorporate some of the poems listed in the selected bibliography below.

The poems listed in this selected bibliography are arranged according to the following categories:

Who are the poets of aging? The names most frequently cited in the bibliography below include the following: Donald Hall, Linda Pastan, May Sarton, Mark Van Doren, William Carlos Williams. Each of these poets has his or her own style, of course, but each poet incorporates straightforward, image-driven verse that is accessible to students not familiar with English and American literature. These sources are meant to provide a foundation for the study of poetry and aging with students in high school and university contexts.

I have often used the poems in this section on the first night of class in order to introduce students to poetry writing as a means of conveying ideas and feelings about the experience of aging.

Maya Angelou, "Old Folks Laugh." In The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou. New York: Random House, 1994.
--Uses humor to illustrate the integration of aging.

Maya Angelou, "On Aging." In collection above.
--In defiance of stereotypes of aging.

Rolf Jacobsen, "Old Age." In Night Open: Selected Poems of Rolf Jacobsen. Translated by Olav Grinde. Fredonia, NY: White Pine Press, 1993.
--The poet views the old with admiration and respect.

Rolf Jacobsen, "The Old Women." In collection above.
--The enduring qualities of old women are explored in the images in this poem.

Linda Pastan, "Ethics." In PM/AM: New and Selected Poems. New York: Norton, 1982.
--The poet, a woman in middle age, reconsiders the timelessness of old age in the context of great art--specifically, a Rembrandt painting.

David Wagoner, "Part Song." In Broken Country: Poems. Boston: Little, Brown, 1979.
--The emotional emptiness of life in a nursing home is portrayed when families visit for a Thanksgiving party.

William Carlos Williams, "The Last Words of My English Grandmother." In The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams. Edited by Christopher MacGowan. New York: New Directions, 1988.
--An irascible, unregenerate old woman complains loudly at the rough treatment at the hands of her grandson and an ambulance crew.

William Carlos Williams, "To a Poor Old Woman." In the collection above.
--The poet observes a woman enjoying the fruits of her life--in this case, a bag of plums.

William Carlos Williams, "To Waken an Old Lady." In the collection above.
--Old age is likened to a small flock of quarrelsome birds, striving, anxious, determined to survive.

John Ciardi, "Matins." In Echoes: Poems Left Behind by John Ciardi. Fayetteville, Ark: Univ. of Arkansas Press, 1989.
--An anonymous street woman prompts the poet's questions about suffering and old age.

Robert Frost, "An Old Man's Winter Night." In Complete Poems of Robert Frost. Edited by Edward Connery Lathem. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1960.
--An old man, living alone in an isolated farmhouse, contemplates his lonely state.

Donald Hall, "The Old Life." In The Old Life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
--100-page poem that surveys his life from childhood to maturity to the beginnings of old age.

Donald Hall, "Ox-Cart Man." In Old and New Poems. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1990.
--An old rural man is attuned to the cycle of life.

Denise Levertov, "The 90th Year." In Life in the Forest. New York: New Directions, 1978.
--A daughter reflects on her mother's serenity and self-containment in old age.

Denise Levertov, "A Woman Alone." In collection above.
--The poet imagines the new roles, creativity, and fulfillment that lay ahead in her old age.

Mueller, Lisa. "Monet Refuses the Operation." In Second Language. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana St. Univ., 1986
--The famous Impressionist resists an operation because he prefers the clarity of blurred sight.

John Crowe Ransom, "An Old Man Playing with Children." In Selected Poems, 3rd edition. Revised and Enlarged. New York: Ecco Press, 1978.
--An old man contemplates the status of his old age in the context of his grandchildren's playfulness.

May Sarton, "Coming into Eighty." In Coming into Eighty: New Poems. New York: Norton, 1994.
--The poet imagines herself and her "ship"--her body, as coming into port after a long voyage.

May Sarton, "The Ender, The Beginner." In the collection above.
--She takes the measure of her turning 80 and uses subtle rhymes to convey her sense of wonder at her prospects.

May Sarton, "Gestalt at Sixty." In Selected Poems of May Sarton. Edited by Serena Sue Hilsinger and Lois Byrnes. New York, Norton, 1978.
--The poet contemplates the forces and values that have led her to become the person she is at the age of 60.

May Sarton, "On a Winter Night." In collection above.
--The poet evaluates her impending old age and finds regenerative images at the core of that experience.

Mark Van Doren, "We Were Not Old." In Collected and New Poems: 1924-1963. New York: Hill & Wang, 1963.
--The patronizing stereotypes held by the young toward the old are contrasted to passionate intensity of the old.

John Wheelock, "Song on Reaching Seventy." In The Gardener and Other Poems. New York: Scribner, 1961.
--The poet celebrates the precious nature of life.

Nikki Giovanni, "Legacies." In The Women and the Men. New York: William Morrow, 1975.
--The tension between a little girl and her grandmother, who interact in the park, suggest the limits of intergenerational wisdom.

Nikki Giovanni, "The Life I Led." In the collection above.
--A young woman imagines herself as an old woman.

Donald Hall, "Elegy for Wesley Wells." In Old and New Poems. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1990.
--A tribute to the poet's grandfather and a bygone rural era.

Hughes, Langston, "Mother to Son." In Selected Poems. New York: Knopf, 1926.
--An old black woman's hardidhood is conveyed to her son.

May Sarton, "August Third." In The Silence Now: New and Uncollected Earlier Poems. New York, Norton, 1988.
--The poet considers her life on the day she turns older than her Mother's age when the latter died 35 years ago.

Mark Van Doren, "The Uncle I Was Named For." In Collected and New Poems: 1924-1963. New York: Hill & Wang, 1963.
--The poet visits his uncle in rural Oklahoma and gains a final perspective on that man's life and values.

Archibald MacLeish, "The Old Gray Couple, I, II. In New and Collected Poems 1917-1982. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985.
--Two poems that focus on the lifelong bonds between a married couple.

May Sarton, "Who has spoken of the unicorn in old age?" In Letters from Maine: New Poems. New York, Norton, 1984.
--The poet revisits the myth of the unicorn, who knelt down to a virgin, and wonders if now in old age that unicorn would bow down to an old woman who has survived grief and become complete.

Mark Van Doren, "The First Snow of the Year." In Collected and New Poems: 1924-1963. New York: Hill & Wang, 1963.
--A bedridden old man and his caregiver spouse reflect upon their first passionate embrace and consider their inevitable separation.

Mark Van Doren, "Old Man, Old Woman." In Good Morning: Last Poems. Foreward by Richard Howard. New York: Farrar, 1973.
--Unspoken, intuitive communication between an old couple is evidence of affection and mutual awareness.

Gwendolyn Brooks, "Jessie Mitchell's Mother." In Selected Poems. New York: Harper & Row, 1960.
--An old black woman regards her aging body in the context of her youthful vitality.

Lucille Clifton, "Miss Rosie." In Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980. Brockport, NY: BOA Editions, 1987.
--An old black woman, once a noted beauty, is shown transformed by dementia.

Robert Graves, "Nightmare of Senility." In Collected Poems 1975. London, Cassell, 1975.
--An old man views his partner's wasted appearance with dismay and dread.

Tony Harrison, "Long Distance II." In British Poetry Since 1945. Edited by Edward Lucie-Smith. New York: Penguin, 1985.
--An old man remains locked in grief two years after his wife's death.

Jane Kenyon, "How Like the Sound." In Otherwise: New and Selected Poems. St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 1996.
--The poet observes her husband's grief at his mother's death.

Jane Kenyon, "The Needle." In the collection above.
--A visit to her grandmother in the nursing home evokes feelings of grief and helplessness.

Stanley Kunitz, "The Portrait." In The Poems of Stanley Kunitz 1928-1978. Boston: Little, Brown, 1979.
--A man of 64 recalls the lifelong scars of his father's suicide.

Philip Larkin, "The Old Fools." In High Windows. London: Faber & Faber, 1974.
--A visit to a nursing home leaves the poet raging at the horrors of dementia.

Mary Jane Moffat, "Widow's Supper." In In the Midst of Winter: Selections from the Literature of Mourning. Edited by Mary Jane Moffat. New York: Random House, 1982. Reprinted, New York: Vintage Books, 1992.
--A widow sets a place at the table for her dead husband.

Diane O'Hehir, "Home Free." In Home Free. New York: Atheneum, 1988.
--A daughter considers her father's impending death in the context of symbols from Eastern religions.

Linda Pastan, "The Five Stages of Grief." In The Five Stages of Grief: Poems by Linda Pastan. New York, Norton, 1978.
--The poet charts her loss against the traditional stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.

May Sarton, "Lunch in the Garden." In Coming into Eighty: New Poems. New York: Norton, 1994.
--A reunion with old friends stirs memories of an old love.

May Sarton, "Wanting to Die." In the collection above.
--The poet contrasts the times she feels like giving up on life with those times when she desires one more day, one more experience.

Mark Van Doren, "Sleep, Grandmother." In Collected and New Poems: 1924-1963. New York: Hill & Wang, 1963.
--A final life review reveals the different life stages of an old woman.

John Wheelock, "Dear Men and Women." In Dear Men and Women: New Poems. New York, Scribner, 1966.
--The poet discovers consolation and relief when contemplating those people dear to him who have died.

Other examples of student poetry: