B. II.
Preserving HEALTH.
51
A more voluptuous, a more sprightly draught;
435Perhaps more active.Wine unmix'd, and all
The gluey floods that from the vex'd abyss
Of fermentation spring; with spirit fraught,
And furious with intoxicating fire;
Retard concoction, and preserve unthaw'd
440Th' embodied mass. You see what countless years,
Embalm'd in fiery quintescence of wine,
The puny wonders of the reptile world,
The tender rudiments of life, the slim
Unrav'lings of minute anatomy,
445Maintain their texture, and unchang'd remain!
We curse not wine: The vile excess we blame;
More fruitful, than th' accumulated board,
Of pain and misery. For the subtle draught
Faster and surer swells the vital tide;
460And with more active poison, than the floods
H 2
Of
