Taking a cognitive approach, the main conceptual domains that act as source domains and are projected onto the target domain of old age are investigated. The resulting metaphors describe the experience of old age and its physical and psychological infirmities and decay. The poet as abstract author and the reader creatively and imaginatively recognize a schema in a new situation and contrive metaphorical connections between various conceptual structures. Thus a metaphorical expression links two or more domains of experience. Structures from two or more input source domains are projected onto a separate "blended" space, which inherits structure partially from the inputs, and has emergent structure of its own. It is argued that creativity shows rationality and structure. Examples reveal that the path, cycle, and time domains are the most important source domains for old age metaphors. The metaphors do not only describe the authors' emotions on experiencing old age, but also create emotions in the reader. It is concluded that language is inextricably entrenched in the cognitive make-up, as illustrated by the various metaphors conveying the experience of old age. (LLBA 2000, vol. 3, n. 1)