An old APE has an old eye

Insights

Cunning with Age

Suggests that those who have lived long—even if seen as foolish or mischievous—have developed keen awareness or strategic insight through experience.

Worldly Wisdom

Points to a kind of street-smart perception, where long exposure to life's tricks and turns sharpens one’s eye for deceit, opportunities, or danger.

Wary Experience

Conveys a sense of watchful skepticism—older individuals, like the old ape, are not easily fooled, having seen much and learned to look beneath appearances.

Folkloric Shrewdness of Age

The proverb fits within a broader tradition that attributes wisdom—not necessarily moral, but practical or cunning—to age. Even the ape, a figure of folly, becomes sly with time.

Humorous Undermining of Naivety

There is a comic edge in attributing insight to an ape—implying that time confers perception even on the foolish. It subtly mocks the naive, who assume age implies weakness or simplicity.

Sexual or Romantic Subtext

In Rowley’s usage, the ‘old eye’ may hint at romantic or sexual cunning—a knowingness about love games, courtship, or trickery, especially when the speaker refers to being shown a 'love-trick.'

Rhetorical Devices

Personification

Attributes human qualities—cunning, discernment—to an animal figure, enhancing relatability and lending an anthropomorphic charm to the insight.

Irony

There is mild irony in the idea that an animal known for mimicry and play becomes wise—playing on the dissonance between appearance and reality.

Metaphorical Compression

The phrase is compact but richly layered, using the ‘eye’ as a synecdoche for knowledge, perception, and worldly acumen.