But softly! It's wasting one's breath to ply A doctor with questions, and get no reply; { And indeed, as he's sitting companionless, { For a wiser man 't would be hard to guess { That I had been making a _mental_ address: So I'll call into service that eye of the mind, Which can see though its owner be never so blind, And in my own absence can safely depend On the word of my fancy--a poet's best friend; And will venture to say my report shall compare With the best ever written, it matters not where. For the truest reporter, (his minutes will show,) Though he uses 'short hand,' often draws 'the long bow.' The doctor, alone, as I said before, Was pond'ring some mystical subject o'er; It puzzled him sorely to know what to think, And, the scales being even, which side to make sink. Now made he a gesture, with eloquent hand, As one who explains what he can't understand; And anon, with his finger laid fast by his nose, Impatiently heard what he meant to oppose; Then, with sagest look and a lengthened face, He seem'd to maintain t' other side of the case; But however he view'd it, before or behind, He never could see it at all to his mind; And he made a wry face, as a doctor will, When he sets the example of taking a pill. But one thing he determin'd--at once to set out, And fathom the matter beyond a doubt. 'The long and the short of the matter is this: I'll visit this personage--vis-à-vis! Come, saddle me up my snow-white horse, That looks like some phthisical donkey's corse, When, surmounted by me, with my 'phials of wrath,' He carries me round on my death-dealing path, { Hobbling along in the murky night, { And glimmering pale through the dim twilight, { With a little more spirit, an excellent sprite. 'But alas! he will travel no road beside The road to that patient's--the last who died! In that case, to be sure, I used exquisite skill, But--it's rather too early to carry my bill: Let him stand--for I'll own he has duty enough, And '_Recipiat_ pabuli quantum suff.'' * * * * *