Page:The Art of Preserving Health - A Poem in Four Books.djvu/71

25Infest, nor those envenom'd shafts that fly
When rabid Sirius fires th' autumnal noon.
His habit pure with plain and temperate meals,
Robust with labour, and by custom steel'd
To every casualty of varied life;
30Serene he bears the peevish eastern blast,
And uninfected breaths the mortal South.

Such the reward of rude and sober life;
Of labour such.By health the peasant's toil
Is well repaid; if exercise were pain
35Indeed, and temperance pain.By arts like these
Laconia nurs'd of old her hardy sons;
And Rome's unconquer'd legions urg'd their way,
Unhurt, thro' every toil in every clime.

Toil, and be strong. By toil the flaccid nerves
40Grow firm, and gain a more compacted tone;