So as the years draw on toward the Biblical limit, the inclination to look back, and to tell some sort of story of what one has seen, grows upon most of us.

For after my marriage I had made various attempts to write fiction. They were clearly failures.

I loved nearly all my teachers; but it was not till I went home to live at Oxford, in 1867, that I awoke intellectually to a hundred interests and influences that begin much earlier nowadays to affect any clever child.

But a girl of seventeen is not always thinking of books, especially in the Oxford summer term.

I love, love songs, but sometimes it's okay to just be young and talk about something other than getting married or falling in love.

When I look at my catalog, most of my songs are about love or relationships. And I'm smart enough to say if it's not broken, don't fix it.

Although I will miss serving you in the Senate, I look forward to spending more time with family, especially my sweet wife Elaine, whose unwavering love and support made all of this possible.

Beloved, till life can charm no more; And mourned, till Pity's self be dead.