by Dawn H. Swinnie

Created on: November 19, 2011   Last Updated: November 20, 2011

"A Lady Who Thinks She's Thirty" by Ogden Nash was a reflection on a typical woman and the age she chooses to be. He named the character Miranda to put a personality on her. He starts off by her waking up in the morning and assuming it's her birthday, meaning another year towards getting old, but for another year she refuses to admit she is past thirty. Miranda has probably told people that she is twenty-nine for so long that she is starting to believe it. She is probably really fifty or sixty, but she regrets aging.

As her birthday has approached, she has no sign of celebration. She sees her flaws in the mirror. And she sees how old she really is. This would be another attempt at trying to hide her real age and show the world that she is still young. As she tries to reach out and stop time, she looks into the mirror and knows that she has failed, because time keeps going and every year she gets one year older.

"Miranda in Miranda's sight
Is old and gray and dirty;
Twenty-nine she
was last night;
This morning she is thirty."

This stanza signifies that Miranda can't stand the sight of herself. She's probably standing at the mirror looking at the wrinkles on her face and the bags under her eyes. She wishes she could find the fountain of youth so she would stay twenty-nine forever and not have to worry about time ticking her looks away.

The calendar is obviously not on Miranda's side. The poem sort of taunts Miranda as Ogden calls her silly. It begs the question "Who are you fooling?" she knows half the world probably doesn't buy it. For as long as she has been hiding her age, her social circle must know that she has hit an old age. But I think Ogden has called her silly because she doesn't know how beautiful aging can be. The acceptance of wisdom and maturity has not crossed her mind yet. She is silly for not seeing how wonderful and beautiful she is even in her old age.

Miranda will continue to be whatever age she thinks she is. And the same will be for her next birthday. The saying "You're only as old as you feel" hold true to this poem because maybe Miranda truly feels twenty-nine and that's what she claims to be. She may not be true to herself about her age, but she is a young woman to herself and the perception of herself goes farther than someone else's perception of her.

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