Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Pharmaceuticals, Medical Treatment, Matter Theory, Chemistry, Psychology

    Expresses his feelings about a lost love, Betsy, in terms of pharmaceutical preparations. Remembers a time when she was as 'delicious' as artificial fragrances and 'was all Almond-mixture'. Now he regards her as 'a fierce and foaming combination / Of turpentine and vitriolic oil', and 'Brimstone's very incarnation'. Seeks to resolve his problems through various chemical substances including 'aromatic vinegar', prussic acid, and arsenic. Declares he has 'no faith in physic's agency' because 'Humbug is its Active Principle, / Its ultimate and Elemental Basis'.