Jenny Joseph

1932 Jenny Joseph, British poet, best known for one poem which was twice voted the nation's favourite post-war poem, 'Warning: When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple', beating even Dylan Thomas's 'Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night'. The renowned poem is the inspiration for the Red Hat Society which has chapters worldwide.

Warning:
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens ...

See also Red Hat Society Day.

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