Explore "Rare Roast Beef" by Eugene Field on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
WHEN the numerous distempers to which all flesh is heir / Torment us till our very souls are reeking with despair; / When that monster fiend, Dyspepsy, rears its spectral hydra head, / Filling _bon vivants_ and epicures with certain nameless dread; / When _any_ ill of body or of intellect abounds, / Be it sickness known to Galen or disease unknown to Lowndes, -- / In such a dire emergency it is my firm belief / That there is no diet quite so good as rare roast beef.
And even when the body's in the very prime of health, / When sweet contentment spreads upon the cheeks her rosy wealth, / And when a man devours three meals per day and pines for more, / And growls because instead of three square meals there are not four, -- / Well, even then, though cake and pie do service on the side, / And coffee is a luxury that may not be denied, / Still of the many viands there is one that's hailed as chief, / And that, as you are well aware, is rare roast beef.