He that ever hopes to thrive
Must begin by thirty-five;
And all who wisely wish to wive
Must look on Thrale at thirty-five."
"'And now,' said he, as I was writing them down, 'you may see what it is to come for poetry to a dictionary-maker; you may observe that the rhymes run in alphabetical order exactly.' And so they do."
Byron's estimate of life at the same age, is somewhat different:
"Too old for youth—too young, at thirty-five
To herd with boys, or hoard with good threescore,
I wonder people should he left alive.
But since they are, that epoch is a bore."