Poetry in May Sarton’s Old Life in At Seventy Abstract At Seventy, belongs to the series of May Sarton’s journals and memoirs, raging the year from May 1982 to May 1983, recording her life at the age of seventy. Poetry is an important subject in At Seventy, recording her understandings of nature, friendship and ageing. When living alone, Sarton reads and writes poetry; when communicating with others, poetry is an indispensable topic.47575

This thesis is based on the literary analysis of At Seventy, especially to the poetry Sarton reads, writes and talks about. This paper aims to discuss the relationship between poetry and Sarton’s old life. Besides, the roles that poetry plays in forming Sarton’s new understandings of nature, friendship and ageing are explored.

Here are the findings: poetry plays an essential role in Sarton’s old life and she writes poems on nature, friendship and so on. Besides, her understanding of ageing at seventy is very different from that at sixty, she changes her fear and desperation of ageing and death into positive attitudes towards old life and enjoyment.

Keywords: May Sarton; At Seventy; poetry ; ageing

 《70岁日记》中的诗歌研究

摘要 《70岁日记》是梅·萨藤日记系列的其中一部，它记录了梅萨藤从1982年5月至1983年5月为期一年的生活。诗歌在《70岁日记中》频繁出现，独居时，她阅读诗歌也进行写作；与人交往时，诗歌是必不可少的途径和主题。诗歌记录了她对自然、友谊、衰老等的体会，也更新了她对死亡的认知。

本论文旨在通过对《70岁日记》的集中分析，尤其是通过梅·萨藤在其中阅读、写作甚至讨论过的诗歌作品的归纳分析，讨论诗与萨藤老年生活质量之间的关系，探究诗在联络人与自然、人与人之间的作用，思考一个身处老年的知性女士对衰老的反思、对生命的理解，以及诗在其中所体现出的老年学意义。

经过研究发现：诗歌是点梅萨藤老年生活的重要组成部分，她也将自己对老年生活的理解以诗歌的形式记录下来。并且，不同于60岁时候的自己，70岁的梅·萨藤珍视友谊，热爱自然，尤其衰老有了新的理解，她不再也不再害怕恐惧、绝望，而是更加积极勇敢地面对并乐在其中。

毕业论文关键词：梅·萨藤；《70岁日记》；诗歌；衰老

Contents

1.Introduction 1

1.1 Brief introduction about May Sarton and At Seventy 1

1.2 Literature review 1

1.2.1 current study about Sarton home and abroad 1

1.2.2 Sarton’s works of poetry 3

2. General Analysis of Poetry in At Seventy 5

2.1 Definition of poetry....... 5

2.2 Frequency of occurrence of poetry 5

2.3 Categories of poetry...... 5

2.4 Functions of poetry....... 5

3.Sarton’s Understanding of Nature in terms of Poetry 7

4. Sarton’s Deep Understanding of Friendship in terms of Poetry 9

4.1 The happy time with friends 9

4.2 Poems as presents 9

5.Sarton’s New Understanding of Aging in terms of Poetry 11