 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
116
The PHYSICIANS,
A FABLE. To the Reverend Mr. Brereton.
Brereton! whose friendship is my pride,
Whom virtue's sacred dictates guide,
Born to improve the glorious plan;
And preach the truths of God to Man,
Oh, lend my muse your social ear,
The Science you profess to hear!
Which ev'ry mortal thinks he knows,
As far as self-love can impose;
And yet the wisest won't desert
The transient for th'eternal part.
Morality is now the theme,
But lest to some too grave she seem,
Permit, as suits the poet best,
The Pow'r to smile in Fable drest.
Whom virtue's sacred dictates guide,
Born to improve the glorious plan;
And preach the truths of God to Man,
Oh, lend my muse your social ear,
The Science you profess to hear!
Which ev'ry mortal thinks he knows,
As far as self-love can impose;
And yet the wisest won't desert
The transient for th'eternal part.
Morality is now the theme,
But lest to some too grave she seem,
117
The Pow'r to smile in Fable drest.
Jove's great decree to banishment,
Apollo and Minerva sent;
Th'exciting reason's not convey'd;
His will was such, and 'twas obey'd:
Wean'd from the palace of the sky,
From pleasures erst enjoy'd on high!
From all that chears th'imperial soul,
Ambrosia, and the nectar'd bowl;
Their joint concern was how to know,
To live like mortal folks below:
I, says the God, an Art profess,
Which sure on earth must gain success;
And I have mine, the Goddess cry'd;
Agreed, they instantly divide;
And fix'd, full fraught with expectations,
In Greece their diff'rent situations,
Apollo and Minerva sent;
Th'exciting reason's not convey'd;
His will was such, and 'twas obey'd:
Wean'd from the palace of the sky,
From pleasures erst enjoy'd on high!
From all that chears th'imperial soul,
Ambrosia, and the nectar'd bowl;
Their joint concern was how to know,
To live like mortal folks below:
I, says the God, an Art profess,
Which sure on earth must gain success;
118
Agreed, they instantly divide;
And fix'd, full fraught with expectations,
In Greece their diff'rent situations,
A Doctor now, profound and wise,
Behold the great Apollo rise!
Endow'd with more than college skill,
To banish ev'ry human ill;
Young smiles shou'd deck, the wither'd face,
The languid nerves new vigour brace;
He'd bid disease at once retreat,
The lungs to breathe, the heart to beat;
In short his nostrums wou'd ensure,
Whate'er the cause, the body's cure.
Behold the great Apollo rise!
Endow'd with more than college skill,
To banish ev'ry human ill;
Young smiles shou'd deck, the wither'd face,
The languid nerves new vigour brace;
He'd bid disease at once retreat,
The lungs to breathe, the heart to beat;
In short his nostrums wou'd ensure,
Whate'er the cause, the body's cure.
119
Minerva nobler talents try'd,
And to the Soul her skill apply'd;
The maladies of that to ease,
And pour the balm of health and peace
The world by wheedling arts are caught;
On this the prudent Goddess thought;
Extoll'd her pow'rs, proclaim'd her best;
And like a mountebank address'd:
Her bills, in characters of gold,
The wonders she effected told;
And that so sov'reign was her sway,
She cur'd wheree'er she made essay:
Bring me the heir, his parent's curse;
A profligate; a devil; worse;
Of this elixir, e're he go,
One draught shall make him white as snow!
The virtues shall his steps attend,
And, let him choose them, they'll defend,
Discerning faculties shall shine
In those who're of an idiot line;
I bid the heart debauch'ry fly,
And wild ambition's fever die:
The brain, whose frantic fits encrease,
Bold lying, slander, avarice,
And all the vices e'er endur'd,
An hundred times my skill has cur'd!
Think not that I'd impose:—I'm just:
Myself will these specifics trust;
And not the least reward expect,
Unless the med'cines work effect.
And to the Soul her skill apply'd;
The maladies of that to ease,
And pour the balm of health and peace
The world by wheedling arts are caught;
On this the prudent Goddess thought;
Extoll'd her pow'rs, proclaim'd her best;
And like a mountebank address'd:
Her bills, in characters of gold,
The wonders she effected told;
And that so sov'reign was her sway,
She cur'd wheree'er she made essay:
Bring me the heir, his parent's curse;
A profligate; a devil; worse;
Of this elixir, e're he go,
One draught shall make him white as snow!
120
And, let him choose them, they'll defend,
Discerning faculties shall shine
In those who're of an idiot line;
I bid the heart debauch'ry fly,
And wild ambition's fever die:
The brain, whose frantic fits encrease,
Bold lying, slander, avarice,
And all the vices e'er endur'd,
An hundred times my skill has cur'd!
Think not that I'd impose:—I'm just:
Myself will these specifics trust;
And not the least reward expect,
Unless the med'cines work effect.
121
Apollo acted wiser;—sure,
To claim the fee before the cure;
And tho' for hope he made them pay,
His patients crowded all the day:
Now practice rising rais'd his price;
Still greater numbers crav'd advice;
They'd pledge their all, ere they'd decline;
His remedies were so divine:
By sees grown rich, in state he shone,
But poor Minerva took not one;
Compell'd to own, with pitying sigh,
That tho' mankind are born to die;
And tho' it have no future claim,
This lump that boasts the body's name,
Yet this is of our care the whole;
Thoughtless of frailties in the Soul.
To claim the fee before the cure;
And tho' for hope he made them pay,
His patients crowded all the day:
Now practice rising rais'd his price;
Still greater numbers crav'd advice;
They'd pledge their all, ere they'd decline;
His remedies were so divine:
By sees grown rich, in state he shone,
But poor Minerva took not one;
Compell'd to own, with pitying sigh,
That tho' mankind are born to die;
And tho' it have no future claim,
This lump that boasts the body's name,
Yet this is of our care the whole;
Thoughtless of frailties in the Soul.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |