An Analysis Of Donald Justice's Men At Forty

Men At Forty The Aging Process

Men At Forty If asked what is the most miraculous thing in the world, most people would say that birth is definitely in the top five. But, does anyone ever say that getting older, or even dying, is anywhere close to being a miracle? Though we don’t look at it that way, it actually is a miracle in its own right. The whole process of living and breathing, knowing that the end will eventually come is mind-boggling. People just go about every day as if nothing were happening to them. When in all regards, life is slowly being siphoned from their bodies. With life, there is a continuous cycle that can never be prevented. Donald Justice makes this realization of life, and the awaiting death, evident

“At rest on a stair landing,/ They feel it” (5-6) projects an unmistakable picture into the reader’s mind of an older man taking a rest while climbing a flight of stairs. This, in turn, greatly enhances the focus of the reader letting the poem burrow deep into the psyche and fashion a firm basis in the acceptance of age. Justice also manifests an image of when the man stands and peers deep into a mirror how, “They rediscover/ The face of the boy as he practices tying/ His father’s tie there in secret” (9-11). Throughout the poem, Justice paints the picture of aging. But, he also gives reference to where the inevitable events of life will

Right from the start Justice grips the reader with a reference to death by saying “Learn to close softly/ The doors to rooms they will not be/ Coming back to” (2-4). This tells the reader that no matter what we are all human. As the poem continues, aging is brought out to be the main idea but, in the last two stanzas, Justice once again shows us that death is coming; “Something is filling them, something/ That is like the twilight sound/ Of the crickets, immense,” (16-18). These lines seem to have a duel meaning. The “something” is the aging itself, which in turn causes death. The “something” can also be the despair that we as people feel knowing that death is coming. Either way, Justice’s lines symbolize the death and despair that everyone will know.

Justice’s use of symbolism could not of worked without the overall tone of his work. Throughout the poem, a sense of impending doom is evident. The reader can feel from the images painted in his or her mind, to the idea of not returning to the “rooms” that aging and death go hand in hand. Justice’s ominous tone really makes the essence of this work a profound understanding of life and