66 POETRY OF SMOKE. 



ODE TO TOBACCO. 



THOU who, when fears attack, 

 Bidst them avaunt, and black 

 Care, at the horseman's back 



Perching unseatest ; 

 Sweet, when the morn is gray ; 

 Sweet, when they've cleared away 

 Lunch, at the close of day, 



Possibly sweetest : 



I have a liking old 



For thee, though manifold 



Stories, I know, are told. 



Not to thy credit ; 

 How one (or two at most) 

 Drops make a cat a ghost- 

 Useless, except to roast- 

 Doctors have said it : 



How they who use fusees 

 All grow by slow degrees 

 Brainless as chimpanzees. 



Meager as lizards, 

 Go mad and beat their wives J 

 Plunge (after shocking lives) 

 Razors and carving knives 



Into their gizzards : 



