The poem
"Warning" by Jenny Joseph is a prediction and an optimistic look at the nature of age
and society's interpretation of behavior. Joseph relates the things she plans to do when she is
an old womanwhich include wearing mismatched clothes and wasting money on brandy and fine
clothing as well as spitting and just in general acting however she pleases.
She reasons in the poem that, when you're old, you get to do that sort of thing because
you are no longer being judged. You have paid your debt to society by paying rent and being
responsible, but when you're old you no longer have to set examples or care about what the world
thinks. The optimism derives from the implication that old age is actually a beautiful thing,
full of carefree whimsy and a "seize the day" attitude that follows from being freed
from society's judgment.
At the end of the poem, Joseph finishes by musing
that she should probably get some practice in for that day so that people aren't surprised. In
that small way,...
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