He's King of Mirth that slyly cheats our sense
With pun ambiguous, pleasing in suspense;
The shoulders lax become; the bending back
Upheaved with laughter makes our ribs to crack;
Ev'n to the liver he can joys impart,
And play upon the fibres of the heart,
Open the chambers of the lungs, and there
Give longer life in laughing, than in air.

— translated by Thomas Sheridan