Poetry · Chapter
Gray Hairs explained
A short anecdotal poem about a lady who quarrels with the witty Douglass Jerrold after he hints she is growing old.
What happens
A short anecdotal poem about a lady who quarrels with the witty Douglass Jerrold after he hints she is growing old. She claims her hair was dark until she used an essence that turned it gray, to which Jerrold retorts that it is the 'tincture of time' that affects hair.
Key passages
“Once on a time a lady quarrelled With the witty Douglass Jerrold, Because that he had been so bold, To hint that she was growing old.”
A lady once argued with the clever Douglass Jerrold because he dared to suggest she was aging.
Sets up the conflict between the lady and Jerrold over the topic of aging.
“She said her hair was dark ’till one day She used an essence turned it gray, O, yes, said he, tincture of time Affects the hair in this our clime.”
She claimed her hair was dark until she used a product that turned it gray, but Jerrold replied that it is actually the passage of time that grays hair in this world.
Jerrold's witty retort underscores the inevitability of aging.