Six years had passed, and forty ere the six,
When time began to play his usual tricks;
The locks once comely in a virgin's sight,
Locks of pure brown, displayed the encroaching white;
The blood, once fervid, now to cool began,
And Time's strong pressure to subdue the man.
I rode or walked as I was wont before,
But now the bounding spirit was no more;
A moderate pace would now my body heat,
A walk of moderate length distress my feet.
I showed my stranger guest those hills sublime,
But said, "The view is poor, we need not climb."
At a friend's mansion I began to dread
The cold neat parlor and gay glazed bed;
At home I felt a more decided taste,
And must have all things in my order placed.
I ceased to hunt; my horses pleased me less--
My dinner more; I learned to play at chess.
I took my dog and gun, but saw the brute
Was disappointed that I did not shoot.
My morning walks I now could bear to lose,
And blessed the shower that gave me not to choose.
In fact, I felt a languor stealing on;
The active arm, the agile hand, were gone;
Small daily actions into habits grew,
And new dislike to forms and fashions new.
I loved my trees in order to dispose;
I numbered peaches, looked how stocks arose;
Told the same story oft--in short, began to prose.
--_George Crabbe._
45
Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.
_G. W. Curtis._
46
Men are as old as they feel, and women as they look.
_Italian._
47
May you all be as old as I,
And see your sons to manhood grow;
And many a time before you die,
Be just as pleased as I am now.
--_Bloomfield._
48
Old age and faded flowers, no remedies can revive.
--_Chinese._
49
'Twas impious then (so much was age rever'd)
For youth to keep their seats when an old man appear'd.
50
Goethe said: "It is only necessary to grow old to become more indulgent.
I see no fault committed that I have not committed myself."
51
The young are fond of novelty,
The old of custom.
52
Speak gently to the aged one,
Grieve not the care-worn heart;
The sands of life are nearly run--
Let such in peace depart!
53
Elderly people look back upon the friends, relatives and acquaintances
of thirty, forty or fifty years ago, and say, "There are no friends
now-a-days like the old friends of long ago." It is natural for them to
think this way, particularly when most of the old friends are dead; but
the fact is, that there are friends as true now as ever.
54
These are the effects of doting age,
Vain doubts, and idle cares, and over-caution.
--_Dryden._
55
Do you seek Alcides' equal? There is none but himself.
--_Seneca._
56