You are old, Father William, the young man said,

And your hair has become very white;

And yet you incessantly stand on your head –

Do you think at your age it is right?

In my youth, Father William replied to his son,

I feared it might injure the brain,

But now I am perfectly sure I have none,

Why I do it again and again.

• – – – – – – –

You are old, said the youth, and your jaws are too weak

For anything tougher than suet

Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak –

Pray how did you manage to do it?

In my youth, said his father, I took to the law

And argued each case with my wife

And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw

Has lasted the rest of my life.

A coda:

You are old, Mr. Biden, you’re 80 and 1

You should really go home and write blogs

Yet you want to keep at it, in spite of your age,

It’s time to spend time with your dogs.

---