Though I be hoor, I fare as dooth a tree
That blosmeth er that fruyt ywoxen bee;
And blosmy tree nys neither drye ne deed.
I feele me nowhere hoor but on myn heed;
Myn herte and alle my lymes been as grene
As laurer thurgh the yeer is for to sene.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Merchant’s Tale. January blindly refuses to acknowledge his old age and compares himself to a blossoming tree. Though he is white-haired, he fares like a tree that blossoms before the fruit is grown. In fact he boasts that he is old nowhere but on his white head, his heart and limbs are as green as laurel. But he is being dishonest when you consider the aphrodisiacs that he must take on his wedding night and the deep sleep he falls into after sex!