A relief, to give up all pretence,
Let your eyebrows grow,
Wear old trousers, and not brush your shoes.
Added to this, three great blessings.
First, since there are no hearing aids
Or spectacles for memory,
You forget all you have said
And no longer lie awake at night
Wishing you had not said it.
Second, and equally sovereign
As a cure for embarrassment,
You forget what you were going to say
And remain mercifully silent.
And thirdly