POEMS ON SNUFF. 279 



" Oh Snuff ! our fashionable end and aim ! 

 Strasburgh, Rappee, Dutch, Scotch ! whate'er thy name ; 

 Powder celestial ! quintessence divine ! 

 New joys entrance my soul while thou art mine. 

 Who takes — who takes thee not ! where'er I range 

 I smell thy sweets from Pall Mall to the 'Change. 

 By thee assisted, ladies kill the day, 

 And breathe their scandal freely o'er their tea ; 

 Nor less they prize thy virtues when in bed, 

 One pinch of thee revives the vapour'cl head, 

 Removes the spleen, removes the qualmish fit, 

 And gives a brisker turn to female wit, 

 "Warms in the nose, refreshes like the breeze, 

 Glows in the head, and tickles in the sneeze. 

 Without it, Tinsel, what would be thy lot ! 

 What, but to strut neglected, and forgot ! 

 What boots it for thee to have dipt thy hand 

 In odours wafted from Arabian land ? 

 Ah ! what avails thy scented solitaire, 

 Thy careless swing and pertly tripping air, 

 The crimson wash that glows upon thy face, 

 Thy modish hat, and coat that flames with lace ! 

 In vain thy dress, in vain thy trimmings shine, 

 If the Parisian snuff-box be not thine. 

 Come to my nose, then, Snuff, nor come alone, 

 Bring taste with thee, for taste is all thy own." 



In a satiric spirit did a later rhymer thus write, 

 under the false pretence of " Praise of Snuff-taking," 

 in the European Magazine for 1807 : — 



When Honour sinks into the silent grave, 

 When Valour bleeds his country's cause to save, 

 The Muse in gratitude prolongs his fame, 

 And hands to late posterity the name ; 

 Tells how the hero lived, the victor's doom, 

 And sheds her passing tribute o'er his tomb. 



But say, can she your prowess praise enough, 

 At once o'erwhelm'd in poetry and snuff? 

 Tell how you loved the sweet Parnassian shade, 

 How on the brow of Helicon you stray'd ; 

 Tell how in snuff you sought relief from pain ; 

 Tell how you sniff'd and sneezed, and snitf'd again. 



