Classic Poem

T HREE Tinkers of the Health , by Genius rear'd,
In France , in England , and in Wales , appear'd.
The first invented his Anatomy —
From all dissecting prejudices free,
Inverted the position of the heart,
And, though self -taught, improv'd upon his art;
At all the symptoms took his flying aim,
And blunder'd with an air of serious claim.
The next in pure simplicity surpass'd,
He kill'd — with laughter; and his name was Last .
The dead or dying by his lancet bleed,
The tooth extracted from its pain is freed.
But these are bunglers to tormenting Tom ,
The first Hippocrates in Christendom:
A suppurating abscess in the gum
Solicited his finger and his thumb.
Next he inspected what he could not see;
Prescrib'd — and then forgot his recipe;
Said he had all the symptoms quite by heart,
And promis'd wonders of experienc'd art.
As the wind blew, would either cure or kill.
But an adept unrivall'd in the bill.
In him with apathy neglect is join'd,
And perfect ignorance has clear'd the mind.
In him the two Physicians have surviv'd,
And sleeping Partners are in Tom reviv'd.