In Paradise first, ’twas agreed, I believe,
That I should attend upon Adam and Eve,
And shed my kind influence over the earth,
On birds, beasts, and fishes, and all who had birth;
On the healthy I rarely forget to attend:
And by the hard-working am styled their best friend;
I alleviate cares and enable them still,
To rise with the lark, and employ all their skill:
At balls and assemblies and routs I’m ne’er seen,
At church in a corner I sometimes have been;
In short, I’m so odd, I confess with a sigh,
Too much of me kills, and without me you die.