For many years he plied his humble trade,
And used his tricks and talents to persuade;
The fellow barely read, but chanced to look
Among the fragments of a tatter'd book,
Where, after many efforts made to spell
One puzzling word, he found it oxymel:
A potent thing, 'twas said, to cure the ills
Of ailing lungs—the oxymel of squills.
Squills he procured, but found the bitter strong,
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