THE DEVIL'S FEVER: A POEM. BY HENRY WARING, ESQ. "When the Devil was sick, the devil a monk would be, When the devil got well, the devil a monk was he." Old Rhyme. THE DEVIL'S FEVER. On his brimstone* couch, in the dead of night, He turn'd to the left, and he turned to the right, He tried to think of pleasant things- But in vain did he seek a respite from pain, His doctors were sent for, one- -two- and three, Oh! it was pleasant to see their alacrity For 't was long since they'd attended on Majesty, In need of medical aid. The DEVIL Smil'd, in spite of his pain, As they bustled about his bed. And he mutter'd "ha! ha! you'll go feeless, my leeches, For here, doctors wear neither pockets nor breeches." Then - he held out his arm to be bled. * "From his brimstone bed at break of day." Porson's Devil's Walk. "A warm berth" according to Mr Satan Montgomery. I think I have read somewhere, but am by no means certain, that brimstone beds are not uncommon in Scotland? Z. P. V. And they took from his arm a whole skinful of blood, 'T was as hot as hot pitch, and as thick as thick mud; And it fill'd a six gallon cask! Now weak and forlorn the DEVIL lay, And he gnash'd his teeth with horrible spite, And pray, how did the DEVIL look? Oh, as warm as a Kamschatdale cook!+ And now with visnomies long and blank, His COURTIERS around him assembled: * Homer tells us, that the blood of the Gods is not real blood, but only something like it. So, Saint Dunstan, in an account, I have somewhere seen, of his personal encounter with His Satanic Majesty, declares," that the blood he squeezed from the Devil's nose was not real blood, but only something like it.' Z. P. V. Travellers have stated that when a Kamtschatdale desires to make another his friend, he invites him to dinner. Mine host and his guest then shut themselves up in the former's hut or kitchen, which is heated to a degree unknown to Fahrenheit! The landlord plays the part of cook, and while the guest devours the food set before him, the other is constantly stirring the fire. The stranger must bear the excess of heat, as well as find stomach-room for the repast. Ten times is his inward purse filled to the brim, and as many times is it emptied of its contents, before the brave eater will yield! At length, he purchases a respite by a present of dogs, or clothes; for his entertainer threatens to heat the hut, and oblige him to gormandize till he dies. A pleasant mode this, of trying the constancy, appetite, and firmness of the person whose friendship is sought! The host, however, one would think, must suffer quite as much from the heat as his visitor. A remarkable kind of coal, found in some of the Northern Counties of England, which, probably, may not be known here. It is capable of a fine polish, and standishes, tea-pots, &c., are frequently made of it. Z. P. V. But the DEVIL laugh'd, · as his medicine he quaff'd,- And he thought him of a certain house Where Devils might take a lesson from men At the door now, was heard a loud hubbub: To make way for BEELZEBUb,- "Come hither, Beloved," the Devil cried, In a low hoarse voice, but in words few and choice, But what they were I cannot declare, Tho' I wot they referr'd to his favorite spot, - * Mulciber, alias Mammon. 'In Ausonian Land Men call'd him Mulciber; and how he fell From Heaven, they fabled, thrown by angry Jove Until of late years, it was believed that Germany was his Highness's favorite walking ground. It is not, however, doubted now that he gives the preference to England. Her poets have proclaimed the fact in every direction. "His walk," by the way, has been attributed to no less than three different and distinguished verse makers, viz. - Porson, Coleridge, and Southey. "The Devil's Visit ""the Devil in London" and several other pieces of which His Satanic Majesty was the hero, were in great favor with John Bull last year. Z. P. V. |