Affirmation (Donald Hall)

I like the straightforwardness of this poem on aging by Donald Hall. It is calm, almost didactic and I supposed frightening in its implications ("To grow old is to lose everything."), but its pace is steady, its conclusions so obvious and unavoidable that I find the poem to be comforting overall.

After all, the poem's conclusion (as its title indicates) is an affirmation that all go through aging and that that is something worthy savoring ("delicious"). So, a toast 'to life!' might as well be the same as 'to getting old!'. Enjoy them equally.

Favorite line: "New women come and go. All go."

New women come and go. All go.