Veteran Sirens by Edwin Arlington Robinson
The poem portrays aging figures who remain brave, alert, and determined to preserve their allure despite the pressures of time. Though age might offer a more fitting dignity, anguish makes them resist it, and the passing years force them to reckon with number, space, fading beauty, and death. Their hope, expectation, humor, and charm have been wounded by time, yet they refuse to surrender the patient ardor of desires that remain unfulfilled. The speaker regards their struggle with pity and admiration: their flesh and vanity fight the calendar with deceptive but enduring strength, leaving them far from Ninon and near the grave.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1897 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Literary Poetry, Philosophical Poetry · 206 words
First lines
THE GHOST of Ninon would be sorry now
To laugh at them, were she to see them here, / So brave and so alert for learning how
To fence with reason for another year.
Age offers a far comelier diadem
What this Textopian page supports
Veteran Sirens is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1897 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1897 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Literary Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Elegiac Poetry, Satirical Poetry
- Length: 206 words
- Structure: 1 section, 10 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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- Work identity for Veteran Sirens by Edwin Arlington Robinson
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — A concise, reflective poem focused on emotional and philosophical meditation rather than narrative action.
- Literary Poetry — Its elevated diction, classical allusion to Ninon, formal rhyme, and layered treatment of human experience place it within literary verse.
- Philosophical Poetry — The poem contemplates aging, mortality, vanity, endurance, and the conflict between desire and time.
- Elegiac Poetry — Its sorrowful attention to fading beauty, disappointed expectation, and nearness to death gives it an elegiac tone.
Tags
poetry · lyric poetry · modernist poetry · American literature · early twentieth century · classical mythology · Greek mythology · sirens · war · veterans · disillusionment · mortality