Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1850-02-01

From the Boston Book.
Tie Morning ViSit.
sfY G. w. HOLMES.

Rf 6. W. HOLMES.
A sick mans chamber though it often boast
The grateful presence ef literal toast,
Can hardly Claim amidst its various wealth,
The right esacsa:tenged, to proposesa healthy
Yet though It's teaant is denied the feast,
Friendship must aaunch his sentiment at least,
As psisoned dam%els, locked from lovers lips,
Toss them kiss:from off their fingers tips.
The 1fef ming v:sit-not till sickness falls
| In the charmed circle OF ycur own safe walls;
Till fever's throb, and pains relentless rack,
Stretch you, all kelpless, on your aching back
Not till you pisy,th patient IN your turn
The morning visgts mystery shall you learn.
'Tis a small matter in your neighbor's case
To charge your zee for showing him your face;
You skip up stsifs, inquire, inspect and touch,
Prescribe, take le;,ve. and off to twenty such
But when at length, by fate's transferred degree,
The visiter bccoHses the visitee
O then, indeed, Il pulls different string,
yo.s- OK is gored and that's different thing!
Your friend IS sick; phlegnatic as Turk,
You write Your recipe and let it work.
Not yours to atarsl the shiver and the frown,
And sometimes worse, with which your draught
goes down;
Calm as a clock your knowing hand directs
Rhei Jelapo, aasr srana ser,
Or traces on some tender missives back
Scrrptslos dos p,s2t'eris Ipecac;
And leaves your patient to his qualms and gripes,
Cool as sportsman banging at his snipes.
But change the.time. the person and the place.
And be yourself sae interesting case"
You'll gain sJrs knowledge which it's well TO
leaII.
In future practice it may serve your turn.
Leeches, for instance, pleasing creatures quite,
Try them, and bless you don't you find they bite 2
You raise blister for the smallest cause,
But be yourself the great sublime it draws,
And trust my statement, you will not deny
The worst Of dra,lghtsmen is your Spanish Fly
Its mighty easy ordering when you please,
ItJiasia senna, eaPitGt uncias tres;
It's mighty different when you quaeke down
Your own three ounces of The liquid brown.
PIl,tla, P1sIris--Fleasant words enough,
When other Jaws receive the shocking stuff
But oh, what fatsery can disguise the groan
That meets the eulp which sends it through Jour
ownl
Be gentle then though Arts unsparing rules
Give you the handling of her sharpest tools;
Use them not rlsaly-sickness is enough
Be always ready, but be never rough"
OF all the ills that suffering man endures,
The largest fraction liberal nature curesS
OF those remaining, It's the smallest part
Yields to the efforts Of iuGicious Arti
But simple &ss,l,,css kneeling by the bed,
To shift the pillow for the sick mans head,
Give the fresh draaght to cool the lips that burn,
Fan the hot brow the weary frame TO turn;
Kind,,sss-untutored by our grave NJ. DIS,
But nature graduate, whom she schools to please,
Wins back more sufferers with her voice and smile
Than all the trumpery in the druggists pile.
Once more, be g,,iet--coming up the stair,
Don't be a plantigrade, a human bear,
But stealing softly on the silent toe,
Reach the sick ,hslnber ere you're heard below.
Whatever changes there may greet your eyes,
Let not your looks proclaim the least surprise;
It's not your business by your face 10 show
All that your patient does not wish to know;
Nay use your optics with coasiderate care,
And don't abuse your privilege to stare.
But ii your eyes may probe him overmuch,
Beware still fayther how you rudely touch;
Don't clutch his carpus with your icy fist
But warm yous fingers ere you take the wrist
Ii the poor victim. needs must be percussed,
Don't make an, anvil OF his aching bust
doctors exist, within hundred miles,
Who thunp a thorax as they'd hammer piles.)
IF you must llsteb to his doubtful chest,
Catch the essentials and ignore the rest
Spare him; t.le sufferer wants of you and art
track to steer by, not a finished chart;
So Of your questions-dont in mercy try
To pump your patient absolutely dry;
He's not raolIurc squirming in dish
You re not gassia, and he's not fish.
And last not least, in each perplexing case,
Learn the sweet magic of cheerful faei
Not alwaps smiling but at least serene,
When grief ana anguish cloud the anxious scene.
Each look. eara movement, every word and tone,
Should tell yonr patient you are all his own;
Not the mere artist, purchased to attend,
But the warns, ready, self-iorgetting friend,
Whose genial visit in itself combines
The best of cerdiaIs, tonics, anodynes,
Such is the ;fsi,, that from day to day
Sheds Ger my chamber its bcnignant ray.
give hts health, who never cared TO claim
Her babbling homage from the tongue of fame!
Uumoved by praise, he stands by all contest
The truest, noblest, n.isest, kindest, best!
Roston, M7y 80, 1919.
"-TAISr BIKE'-A certain lawyer had ms por-
trait taken II. his avorite misunderstanding with
one hand il ais pocket His friends and clients al
went to see it, ard every body exclaimed
"Oh how ake!--its the very picture of him! !!
" An old farmer only dissented-" Tain't like 7