Classic Poem

To Hakim Ali, famed for potent pills,
Old Hassan came to tell his body's ills

Began the Patient: “First, O Hakim wise,
I note a certain dimness of the eyes—”

“A trifle!” laughed the Doctor; “I'll engage
'Tis merely a Concomitant of Age.”

“Besides,” groaned Hassan, “as it seems to me,
My hearing is not all it used to be.”

“Some little touch of deafness,” quoth the Sage,
“Is likewise a Concomitant of Age.”

“But,” quavered Hassan, “Doctor, is it right
That Wakefulness should worry me at night?”

“Quite natural,” said Ali, “at this stage;—
A usual Concomitant of Age.”

Then Hassan stormed: “Oh, quack, impostor, dolt,
With no more learning than my donkey's colt!—

“I tell my griefs, and, like a parrot gray,
‘Concomitant of Age’ is all you say!”

“Ah!” smiled the Doctor; “sudden, causeless rage
Is likewise a Concomitant of Age.”