An Elder by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It captures the feeling of aging and being overlooked in a world that has moved forward. The speaker, representing all older individuals ("We Elders"), expresses a sense of belonging to the past and feeling out of place in the present — akin to dry leaves that rustle for a moment before turning to dust.

It suggests that the Elders aren't merely from the past — they embody it. They have no connection to the present. Longfellow transforms them into a measure of time that has already elapsed, capturing a quietly heartbreaking sense of being left behind.

The central device is a simile: the Elders are likened to dry leaves that rustle and turn to dust. The speaker also employs apostrophe (addressing an implied audience directly), uses alliteration in "dry leaves" and "dust," and draws on the ubi sunt tradition — a mourning for what has gone.

Capitalizing Elders gives the word a sense of importance, treating it as a title for a group of people with a formal identity. This adds dignity to the group, even as the poem reflects on their diminishing significance — there's a subtle pride in the term, even as the speaker acknowledges they have been pushed aside.

It carries a sense of sadness and acceptance. The speaker isn't fighting against old age — there's no energy for that struggle anymore. Instead, the tone reflects a quiet recognition of a painful reality, gently softened by the soothing image of rustling leaves at the end.

Almost certainly in part. Longfellow wrote it later in life, observing the shifts in American culture and sensing that his poetic style was becoming antiquated. The use of "We" indicates he’s representing a generation, not just his own perspective, yet the sentiment remains distinctly personal.

Dry leaves have completed their life cycle — they grew, thrived, and are now dead but still hanging on, making a faint rustle before crumbling away. Dust represents the final stage: complete dissolution. Together, they illustrate the last phase of a human life, from a fading presence to total disappearance.

The poem dives deep into the theme of death, emphasizing the social and emotional aspects — particularly the sensation of fading from the present even before your physical departure. The dust imagery at the end introduces the idea of literal death, but the true impact of the poem lies in the sense of becoming invisible beforehand.