The Convalescent Gripster

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The gods let slip that fiendish grip
  Upon me last week Sunday--
No fiercer storm than racked my form
  E'er swept the Bay of Fundy;
  But now, good-by
  To drugs, say I--
  Good-by to gnawing sorrow;
  I am up to-day,
  And, whoop, hooray!
  I'm going out to-morrow!

What aches and pain in bones and brain
  I had I need not mention;
It seemed to me such pangs must be
  Old Satan's own invention;
  Albeit I
  Was sure I'd die,
  The doctor reassured me--
  And, true enough,
  With his vile stuff,
  He ultimately cured me.

As there I lay in bed all day,
  How fair outside looked to me!
A smile so mild old Nature smiled
  It seemed to warm clean through me.
  In chastened mood
  The scene I viewed,
  Inventing, sadly solus,
  Fantastic rhymes
  Between the times
  I had to take a bolus.

Of quinine slugs and other drugs
  I guess I took a million--
Such drugs as serve to set each nerve
  To dancing a cotillon;
  The doctors say
  The only way
  To rout the grip instanter
  Is to pour in
  All kinds of sin--
  Similibus curantur!

'Twas hard; and yet I'll soon forget
  Those ills and cures distressing;
One's future lies 'neath gorgeous skies
  When one is convalescing!
  So now, good-by
  To drugs say I--
  Good-by, thou phantom Sorrow!
  I am up to-day,
  And, whoop, hooray!
  I'm going out to-morrow.

© Eugene Field