Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “A happy man” is all about a man who is satisfied with his morality. The poem is written in a way so as to explain the feelings of a dead person who is no more. Despite the fact that he is dead, he says that he has lived a happy life and there have been whatsoever no problems in his life. He had a beautiful wife who loved him dearly and had an amazing life with all three of his sons.
Generally sons do not care much about their parents after they grow up because they are busy with their own life, their wife and children. But the dead man is happy , when he says “ Children that I leave behind, And their children all were kind, near to me and to my wife, I was happy all my life”, he means that all my children and my grandchildren were perfect and they took good care of him and his wife. They were not interested in fulfilling their selfish interests. Instead they were keen in serving the dead man and his wife. His children were as a matter of fact dedicated towards him and his wife.
He even points out that he and his grandsons rocked the night meaning that he played with his grandsons all night and was very content and satisfied with his life, when he says “My three sons I married right, and their sons I rocked at night.” He was not only happy that his sons loved him but he is time and again assuring the fact that his daughter-in – laws were perfect for his sons too. Additionally his grandchildren also respected their grandparents more than he ever expected. What else can a human being ask from his life, specially today when many children ask their parents to leave their homes as a result of which the grandparents have to stay away in old age homes. Old age is the time when they need to stay with their children the most.
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Now that we understand that he is dead he assures that there is simply no reason to mourn over his death because he has lived a life full of satisfaction and no desire was left to be fulfilled. He says “Now and with no need of tears, Here they leave me full of years” where he assures that there is no need to mourn over his death. This is a happy poem explaining that a man can stay happy in his lifetime if his old age passes happily. A man with good children is a blessed individual and the dead man is lucky to be one of those lucky individuals. What we as readers learn from this poem is that any individual’s life is successful if he has had a proper old age and if he is treated well by his children.