My days pass pleasantly away,
My nights are blest with sweetest sleep,
I feel no symptoms of decay,
I have no cause to mourn nor weep,
My foes are impotent and shy,
My friends are neither false nor cold;
And yet, of late, I often sigh,
I'm growing old!
My growing talk of olden times,
My growing thirst for early news,
My growing apathy to rhymes,
My growing love of easy shoes,
My growing hate of crowds and noise,
My growing fear of taking cold,
All whisper in the plainest voice,
I'm growing old!
I'm growing fonder of my staff,
I'm growing dimmer in the eyes,
I'm growing fainter in my laugh,
I'm growing deeper in my sighs,
I'm growing careless of my dress,
I'm growing frugal of my gold,
I'm growing wise. I'm growing—yes—
I'm growing old!
I see it in my changing taste,
I see it in my changing hair,
I see it in my growing waist,
I see it in my growing heir;
A thousand signs proclaim the truth,
As plain as truth was ever told,
That even in my vaunted youth,
I'm growing old!
Ah me! my very laurels breathe
The tale in my reluctant ears,
And every boon the Hours bequeath,
But makes me debtor to the Years!
E'en Flattery's honied words declare
The secret she would fain withhold,
And tells me in "How young you are!"
I'm growing old!
Thanks for the years, whose rapid flight
My sombre muse too sadly sings!
Thanks for the gleams of golden light
That tint the darkness of their wings!
The light that beams from out the sky,
Those heavenly mansions to unfold,
Where all are blest, and none may sigh,
"I'm growing old."