Old age is courteous — no one more:
For time after time he knocks at the door,
But nobody says, “Walk in, sir, pray!”
Yet turns he not from the door away,
But lifts the latch, and enters with speed,
And then they cry, “A cool one, indeed.”

[Das Alter ist ein höflich’ Mann:
Einmal übers andre klopft er an;
Aber nun sagt niemand: „Herein!‟
Und vor der Türe will er nicht sein.
Da klinkt er auf, tritt ein so schnell,
Und nun heißt’s, er sei ein grober Gesell.]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German poet, statesman, scientist

Poem (1814), “Old Age [Das Alter]” [tr. Bowring (1853)]
    (Source)

(Source (German)). Other translations:

Old Age is a courteous gentleman:
again and again he knocks.
But nowadays no one says: come in!
And he doesn't want to be in front of the door.
So he rings and enters quickly,
and then people claim he is a coarse fellow.
[tr. Bachlund (1989)]

Old Age, that most polite of men,
Knocks the door, and knocks, then knocks again;
‘Enter’? No-one gives him a shout.
But he’s not one for hanging about,
He lifts the latch and in a trice
There he is. They call him rude and not nice.
[tr. Lawley (2024)]

Old age is a courteous man;
More than once he knocks away;
But now no one speaks, "Come in!"
And at the door he will not stay;
So he opens the latch, walks in so fast,
And now for a churl he is deemed at last.
[tr. Google AI (2026), though it tried to attribute it to two other translators before admitting it had just made it up itself.]

Age is a polite gentleman:
He knocks here and there and then again;
But no one then says, "Come in!"
And he's not much pleased to wait outside.
So the doors he himself unlatches and quickly steps inside,
And now so is it that he's such a rude fellow.
[Source]