Time & Brevity
Old Age
Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring (1853) · From Epigrams
Time & Brevity
OLD age is courteous--no one more:
For time after time he knocks at the door,
But nobody says, "Walk in, sir, pray!"
Yet turns he not from the door away,
But lifts the latch, and enters with speed.
And then they cry "A cool one, indeed!"
Cite this poem
MLA
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “Old Age.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/214/.
Chicago
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “Old Age.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/214/.
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