Let the learned talk of books, <br />The glutton of cooks, <br />The lover of Celia's soft smack—O! <br />No mortal can boast <br />So noble a toast <br />As a pipe of accepted tobacco. <br /> <br />Let the soldier for fame, <br />And a general's name, <br />In battle get many a thwack—O! <br />Let who will have most, <br />Who will rule the rooste, <br />Give me but a pipe of tobacco. <br />Tobacco gives wit <br />To the dullest old cit, <br />And makes him of politics crack—O! <br /> <br />The lawyers i' the hall <br />Were not able to bawl, <br />Were it not for a whiff of tobacco. <br />The man whose chief glory <br />Is telling a story, <br />Had never arrived at the smack—O! <br />Between ever heying, <br />And as I was saying, <br />Did he not take a whiff of tobacco. <br /> <br />The doctor who places <br />Much skill in grimaces, <br />And feels your pulse running tic-tack—O! <br />Would you know his chief skill? <br />It is only to fill <br />And smoke a good pipe of tobacco. <br /> <br />The courtiers alone <br />To this weed are not prone; <br />Would you know what 'tis makes them so slack—O? <br />'Twas because it inclined <br />To be honest the mind, <br />And therefore they banished tobacco.<br /><br />Henry Fielding<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-pipe-of-tobacco/
