The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1850-02-27
THE MORNING VISIT,
BY O. w. HOLMES.

A sich mans chamber, though il often boast
The grateful presence of a literal toast,
Can hardly claim amidst its various wealth
The right, unchallenged, To propose q health;
Yet though its tenant is denieo the feast,
Friendship must launch his sentiment AT least,
A. prisoned damsels, locked from lovers lips,
Toss them a Hiss from on their fingers tips.
TIE Morning tist-not till Sickness falls
In the charmed circle of your own safe W alls;
Till fever's ihrob, and pains relentless rack,
stretch YOU ali helpless, on your aching back
Not tiii YOU play the patient in Turn,
The morning visits mystery shall You learu
'Tis small matter in your neighbors case,
To charge your fee for showing him your face;
You skip up stairs, inquire, inspect and touch,
Prescribe, take leave, ard of 10 twenty such.
But when, at length, by fates transferred decree,
The visiter becomes the visitee,
o then, indeed, il pulls another string,
Your OK is gored, and that's different thing.
Your friend is sick phle2matic a Turk,
You write your recipe and let IL work;
Not yours TO stand the shiver and the frown, down
And sometimes worse, with which your draught goes
Calm as clock your knowing hand directs
Rhei, Jaidpe, una grdna sea-,
Or traces on some tender missve's back
ScruPafos duoS puiUeris Ipecac;
And leaves Nour patient TO his guams and gripes
Cool as u sportsman banging al his snipes.
But change the time the person. and the place
And be yourself the ''ntercsting case"
You II gain some knowledge which it's well TO learn
In future practice itmay serve your turn.
Try thein and, bless you, don't you find they bite?
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 draughtsmen is Your Spanish Fly.
It's mighty easy, ordering when you please,
IfnSiG SennG, capidt uncias tres;
It's mighty different when you quackle down
Your Own three ounces Of The lq uid brown.
PiLufq, puiutS-pleasant words enough,
When other Jaws receive the shocking stuff;
But oh, what fattery can disguise the groan
DIS uCk pxsyr
Be gentle, then, though Arts unsparing rules
Give you the handling OF her sharpest tools
Use them not rashy y--sickEess is enough
Be always ''ready,' but be never ''roush.'
OF all the ills that suffering man endures
The largest fraction liberal Nature cures;
OF those remaining { Is the smallest part
Yields to the efforts OF judicous Art
But simple kindness lneciing by the bed,
TO shift the pillow for the sick mans head
Give the fresh draught to cool Tie lips that blrn
Fan the hot brow, the weary frame TO turn,
Rtadness-untutored BY our grave NJ DIS,
But natures graduate, whom she schools please,
Wins back more sufferers with her voice and SMILE
THIN all the trrnnpery IN the druggists pile
Once more, be quiet-coming up the stair,
Don't be. a plantigrade, r human hear
But stealing softly on the silent toe,
Reach the sick chamber 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 looks to show
All that Your petienj does not wish TO know;
Nay, use your optics with considerae care,
And don't abuse your privilege to stare.
But il your eyes may probe him overmuch,
Beware still further how You rudely touch;
Don't clutch his corpus in your icy fist
But warm your fingers ere YOU take the wrist;
II the poor victim needs must be percussed,
Don't make anvil of his aching bust;
doctors exist within a hundred miles,
Who thump a thoray as they'd hammer pies)
If you must listen TO his doubtful chest,
Catch the essen tals and ignore the rest
Spare him; the sufferer wants of you and art
A fFaE IN nZf.s kk n "a HnfS ned charf
of Your questions don in mercy try
To pump your patient absolutely dry;
He s not amollusc squirmng i'll a dish
y Nou re not Agassiz, and he's not a fish.
And last, not least, in each perplcying case
learn the sweet magic of a cheerful face
Not always smiling but at least serene,
When grief and anguish cloud the anxious scene.
Each look, each movement, every word ard tone,
Should tell your patient you are all his own
Not the mere artist, purchased to attend,
But the warm, ready, self-forgettng friend,
Whose genial visit in itself combines
The best OF cordials, toDics, anodynes.
Such is the I'isjt that from day odsy
Sheds DER nv chamber its benigGant ray.
give MS health, who never cared TO claim
Her babbng homage from the tongue of Fame
Uunoved by praise, he stands by all contest,
The truest, nobest wisest, kiudest, best.
Boston, May 30, lo4s.