Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Quackery, Morality

    Describes, with some venom, the last years in the life of a retired physician. Expresses little doubt that the physician is 'hearty, hale, and stout, / In good condition' and that he will 'creep' to his grave 'like a slug'. Reveals that the physician has discovered a cure for consumption and urges him to divulge his secret to 'the mass', so that he can enjoy the act of 'doing good' and being paid 'in that bank aloft'. However, concludes by telling the 'old quack and public bore' to hang himself up 'behind the door'.