“I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.”
— T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Reading those lines at age 18 in Poetry 101 at Emory University, tears sprang to my eyes.
Reading them at age 70 still brings tears, bittersweet tears…
Ever more sweet than bitter.