If Temperance chaps wont suffer wine

Nor gin t’ inspire the maudlin nine,

Some verse by critics dubb’d divine

Will seem almost as flat as mine.

Horace says dulce est desipere,[23]

Drink till your way home’s rather slippery,

But don’t indulge in gross ebriety,

Save in the very best society.

The lower orders too, we think,

Unless addicted to strong drink,