Thou who, when fears attack
bids them avaunt, and black
care, at the horsesman's back
perching, unseatest
Sweet when the morn is grey
Sweet when they've cleared away
lunch, and at close of day
possibly sweetest

I have a liking old
for thee, tho' manifold
stories, I know are told
not to thy credit
how those who use fusees
all grow, by small degrees
brainless as chimpanzees
meagre as lizards
grow mad, and beat their wives
plunge, after shocking lives
razors and carving knives
into their gizzards

Confound such knavish tricks!
Yet know I five or six
Smokers who freely mix
Still with their neighbours;
Jones — (who, I'm glad to say,
Asked leave of Mrs. J.) -
Daily absorbs a clay
After his labours.

Cats may have had their goose
Cooked by tobacco-juice;
Still why deny its use
Thoughtfully taken?
We're not as tabbies are:
Smith, take a fresh cigar!
Jones, the tobacco-jar!
Here's to thee, Bacon!

"Black Care" is an echo of the Latin poet Horace, Odes 3.1.41: post equitem sedet atra Cura (Black Care sits behind the horseman).

Tobacco juice is a popular remedy against deer invading your garden, and a pleasant side effect (for some) is that it repels cats as well. You make it by soaking a plug of chewing tobacco in water.

A "fusee" is a match that stays alight even in a strong wind. A "clay" is of course a clay pipe.

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