I first read the poem titled “Warning” written by Jenny Joseph when it was identified as the UK’s most popular post-war poem in a 1996 poll by the BBC.

The poem was written when she was 28. Written in 1961, the poem gives a message of old age as a time for indulgence and fun. 

In the poem, Jenny Joseph portrays herself in old age as a playful rebel with bold clothes and eccentric habits. 

Joseph once confessed that she hated the colour purple, which is why she included it in the poem. 

This poem was included in the anthology Tools of the Trade: Poems for New Doctors.

The poem became well-known after an article by Liz Carpenter, the first woman executive assistant to Vice President Lyndon Johnson, was published in Reader's Digest. The article was about enjoying life after recovering from an illness, and she concluded it with this poem titled “Warning”.

Enjoy the poem here -

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 flowers in other people’s gardens

And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts 

and grow more fat

And eat three pounds of sausages at a go

Or only bread and pickle for a week

And hoard pens and pencils 

and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

And pay our rent and not swear in the street

And set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner 

and read the papers.

But maybe 

I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me 

are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, 

and start to wear purple.