Lucius Atherton by Edgar Lee Masters — Read

When my moustache curled, / And my hair was black, / And I wore tight trousers / And a diamond stud, / I was an excellent knave of hearts and took many a trick.

But when the gray hairs began to appear --

Lo! a new generation of girls / Laughed at me, not fearing me, / And I had no more exciting adventures / Wherein I was all but shot for a heartless devil, / But only drabby affairs, warmed-over affairs / Of other days and other men.

And time went on until I lived at Mayer's restaurant, / Partaking of short-orders, a gray, untidy, / Toothless, discarded, rural Don Juan.

There is a mighty shade here who sings / Of one named Beatrice;

And I see now that the force that made him great / Drove me to the dregs of life.