When, all at once, a sudden thirst of his resolve made sport,
The inn he turned into, alas! was not an inn of court:
And that tea-totaller was found in a curious place to find one,
Not bright with wit before a bar, but as drunk as a beast behind one!
A lady with a ruby nose, and skin all blotched about,
Who suddenly perceived that gin put her complexion out,
Soon took a "water vow," right well determined none should warp it,
And kept it till, one day, she fell for dead upon the carpet!
They took her up, they chafed her hand, they rubbed her temples over;
How was it, then, that lady dear did never more recover?