INVOCATION.
Hail, great Hygeïa! Healing Goddess, hail![14]
And lend one moment to a touching tale;
One moment stay thy pestle-driving hand,
And let thy half-compounded physic stand:
That tale is this: I have a subject here,
Not anatomical—but very near;
A starving vot'ry of the 'healing art,'
Who shows its wond'rous power in every part:
But cannot find the language to describe,
In proper guise, a member of thy tribe.
Oh! then vouchsafe me a 'composing draught,'
Potent as ever willing patient quaff'd!
*****
I thank thee, for I feel it working now,
And composition flows, no matter how.