  SINCE Dr. Watts in frenzy fine Extolled the "busy Bee," The patience of the Porcupine, The Newt's fidelity, The calm contentment of the Pike, Have stirred our hearts and brain alike. Lives there a man so lost, so low, That he has never found Some lesson in the Buffalo, Some precept in the Hound? Few who have won Victoria's cross Owe nothing to the Albatross. These pleasant thoughts must turn our minds, In meditation quiet, Towards the moral law that binds The principles of diet. Since 'tis a maxim none disputes, That we should imitate the brutes. As has been shown in former verse, The animal creation Does not in its own nature nurse Inebriate inclination; Nor is it formed by Heaven to pant For alcoholic stimulant. That being so, our path is plain, We must eschew all drinks; If we are anxious to attain To the celestial brinks, The meanest Hippopotamus Will make our duty clear to us. But in the search for Natural guides To moral food-restrictions, We are assaulted on all sides By patent contradictions. Thus, while the Lion lives on meat, The Pheasant is content with wheat. Who then, when beasts do not agree, Shall venture to decide? 033m
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