1. They say old age has come upon you
And who can protect when old age attacks?

2. I was not delighted with youth
It was but a borrowed garment.

3. Yet I am saddened by its loss -
Alas! What sorrow it evoked!

4. It is not that time has changed
My night to day, my ignorance to dignity.

5. But they say the days of youth
Can settle every joy, establish all desires.

6. Since it slipped away, I remain
Like one groping in the dark, stumbling.

7. I endure a lifetime that turns the infant gray,
And turmoil that makes the young grow old.

8. So I found, when it left me,
I had not realized what they claim to have discovered.