ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -"You Are Old, Father William” is a poem by Lewis Carroll that appears in his 1865 book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Detailed explanation-2: -"You Are Old, Father William” is a poem by Lewis Carroll that appears in his 1865 book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It is recited by Alice in Chapter 5, “Advice from a Caterpillar” (Chapter 3 in the original manuscript).

Detailed explanation-3: -Introduction. Carroll’s “You are Old, Father William” is a parody of a well-known Victorian children’s poem, “The Old Man’s Comforts and How He Gained Them” by Robert Southey, first published in 1799. This is just one of the many famous didactic poems that Carroll parodies in Alice.

Detailed explanation-4: -The theme of this poem is the generation gap between an experienced person and an arrogant son. We can see that this poem is very much concerned about age. If we keep our life balanced, then age will surely not matter. The figure of speech in You are Old, Father William is ABAB.

Detailed explanation-5: -The father proves that even at his age, he is stronger and livelier than his son. This is because he had to work hard and fight for his rights, which is also why he and his son are living a comfortable and happy life.