In today's more non-poetic terms: "At 70, though he was a fine worker, he had to retire."

From "Notice of Ezekiel Price, Esquire, Member of the Historical Society" in the "Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society," vol. 8, pg. 85:

"And in these, and many other stations, he acted his part well in society; until that decay, which so often attends the age of three-score years and ten, made it necessary for him to retire to his family."