Page:The Art of Preserving Health - A Poem in Four Books.djvu/61

B. II. Or sacred country calls, with mellowing wine To moisten well the thirsty suffrages; Say how, unseason'd to the midnight frays Of Comus and his rout, wilt thou contend With Centaurs long to hardy deeds inur'd? Then learn to revel; but by slow degrees: By slow degrees the liberal arts are won; And Hercules grew strong. But when you smooth The brows of care, indulge your festive vein In cups by well-inform'd experience found The least your bane; and only with your friends. There are sweet follies, frailties to be seen By friends alone, and men of generous minds.


 * Oh! seldom may the fated hours return

Of drinking deep! I would not daily taste, Except when life declines, even sober cups. Rh