Auden's phrase—most of whose readers
doubtless knew no more than you might
what it meant, i.e., a “restorative
or stimulative” belt, snort,
nip, shot, sip, slug, or swig—
“a quantity drunk at one time”
(Webster’s). Well, one thinks, fine!
And also what a poem should be.
Have this analeptic swig on me!
A little of what you fancy does you good!
Envoi
"I always hold in having it if you fancy it / If you fancy it that’s understood / And suppose it makes you fat? I don’t worry over that / ‘Cos a little of what you fancy does you good."—Marie Lloyd (1916)
"L'art est un sale boulot mais il faut bien que quelqu'un le fasse." [Art is a dirty business, but someone has to do it.]
—Fred Vargas, Un Lieu Incertain
September 8, 2024
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