Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Nutrition, Religion, Health, Disease, Human Development

    Begins by citing an extract from the Standard describing the feast day of St Trofimus, whose bones are said to possess the power to cure a range of diseases, including gout and lumbago. The poem is written from the perspective of a greedy cabman who, despite his Protestant faith, writes to St Trofimus about his passion for good food and wine, his aversion to exercise, and his contraction of gout. He questions what he has done 'to earn a punishment so sore' and describes how his doctor gives him 'beastly drugs, and Vichy water for a treat' but insists on letting the disease take its course. After complaining about the aches and pains caused by his condition he calls on the saint to cure him.