The young how brave, how subtle were the old;
And oaths attested all that Folly told.
On death like his what name shall we bestow,
So very sudden! yet so very slow?
'Twas slow:—Disease, augmenting year by year,
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Show'd the grim king by gradual steps brought near.
'Twas not less sudden: in the night he died,
He drank, he swore, he jested, and he lied;
Thus aiding folly with departing breath.—