Caplin - Health and Beauty (1864) — Chapter X

"In age to wish for youth is full as vain,As for a youth to turn a child again."Denham.

"What is ageBut the holy place of life, chapel of easeTo all men's wearied miseries? and to robThat of her ornament it is accurst,As from a priest to steal a holy vestment,Ay, and convert it to a sinful covering."Massinger.

"Life ebbs from such old age, unmarked and silent,As the slow neap-tide leaves yon stranded galley.Late she rocked merrily to the least impulseThat wind or wave could give; but now the keelIs settling on the sand, her mast has ta'enAn angle with the sky, from which it shifts not.Each wave receding shakes her less and less,Till bedded on the sand she shall remainUseless and motionless."Old Play.