A Verbal Fig Leaf · Track 17 · middle
Night Physic
Night Physic (1620s) — Medicine, administered after dark, by prescription. Doctor's orders. VOLUME: II. THE COINERS, 1600–1699. THE DODGE THIS ERA: The dodge became SPORT. Urquhart translating Rabelais invented dozens in an afternoon; nobody was hiding anything, they were competing. The richest century on the list, and the most useless for actually concealing meaning. Sing the AVOIDANCE, never the anatomy.
No audio yet — generation pending.
Lyrics
[Intro] [Verse 1] The humours settle where the fire should rest, The blood is sluggish in the afternoon. I leave the bitter powders in the desk, And check the almanac against the room. We need no mortar and we need no glass, No heavy tincture from the merchant ship, Just pull the velvet drapery and pass The Latin rolling on your lower lip. [Chorus] We call it Night Physic, measured by the yard, A sudden tonic just to clear the lung. Why use a single word when twenty can be sparred? We keep the remedy beneath the tongue. Two heavy doses as the candle dies, Administered beneath the canopy. The cure is in the compounding of lies, And how you fold the paper up for me. [Verse 2] I could have said it plain, but where's the use? The Oxford press of twenty-one demands A dozen syllables to cut it loose, Before the treatment ever leaves my hand. A rhythmic motion for the heavy chest, A sweet botanical to wake the breath. The simple phrase is just a fool's request, We talk in circles to outwit the rest. [Chorus] We call it Night Physic, measured by the yard, A sudden tonic just to clear the lung. Why use a single word when twenty can be sparred? We keep the remedy beneath the tongue. Two heavy doses as the candle dies, Administered beneath the canopy. The cure is in the compounding of lies, And how you fold the paper up for me. [Bridge] The mind races a half-breath out ahead, Discarding common verbs like broken tools. If I can name this twenty ways instead, I leave the shortest syllables to fools. Apply the poultice. Keep the patient close. The fever breaks right at the center of the... Dose. [Outro] Three minims of the shadows. Take it twice. The doctor leaves the chamber to the nurse. We could have spoken plainly. Once or twice. But fifty painted titles... Cost you worse.