This poem is written by an old lady who spent her last years in a small hospital near Dundee, Scotland .It was doscovered by nurses after her death.Read the poem with feelings and expression.(Form 4 text book)
LOOK AT ME
What do you see, nurses, what do you see?
What are you thinking when you're looking at me?
A crabby
1 old woman, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit , with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles her food and makes no reply,
2When you say in a loud voice, '?I do wish you'd tey!'
Who seems not to notice the things thta you do,
And forever is losing a stocking or shoe...
Who, resisting or not, let's you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill...
Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse; you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am as I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding,
3 as i eat at your will.
I'm a small child of ten... with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters, who love one another.
A young girl of sixteen , with wings on her feet,
Dreaming that soon now a lover she'll meet.
A bride soon at twenty--my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows
4 that i promise to keep.
At twenty-five now, I have a young of my own,
who need me to guide and a secure happy home.
A woman of thirty, my young now grown fast,
Bound to each other with ties thta should fast.
At forty, my young sons have grown and are gone,
But ,my man's
5 beside me to see I don't mourn.
At fifty , once more babies play around my knee,
Again we now children, my loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me , my husband is dead;
I look at the future, I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing young of their own,
And i think of the years and the love that I've known.
I'm now an old woman... and natrure is cruel;
'Tis jest
6 to make old age like a fool.
The body, It crumbles, grace and vigour
7 depart,
There is now a stone where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells,
And now a again my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys, I remember the pain,
And I'm loving and living life over again.
I think of the years... all too few, gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open yours eyes, nurses, open and see,
Not a crabby old woman; look closer, see ME
Anonymous8
1 grumpy, bad-tempered
2 Who is the poet describing?
3 Command
4 Marriage vows
5 Husband
6 'It's a joke'
7 Strength
8 Author unkwon
