A Different Stripe: "A Farewell to Tobacco"—from W.H. Auden's Book of Light Verse

April 12, 2011

"A Farewell to Tobacco"—from W.H. Auden's Book of Light Verse

Scent to match thy rich perfume
Chemic art did ne'er presume;
Through her quaint alembic strain,
None so sovereign to the brain:
Nature, that did in thee excel,
Framed again no second smell.
Roses, violets, but toys
For the smaller sort of boys
Or for greener damsels meant;
Thou art the only manly scent.

—from "A Farewell to Tobacco" by Charles Lamb
collected in W.H. Auden's Book of Light Verse

Apr 12, 2011 11:44:36 AM | Poetry

1 Comment

This reminds me of one of my favorite songs by the band Lambchop, "Smoking Again," in which singer Kurt Wagner, with what seems to be delirious joy, sings, "I'm smoking / I'm smoking again." (Extra amusement comes from the fact that the band had earlier titled a whole album How I Quit Smoking.

Posted by: Levi Stahl | April 12, 2011 at 01:50 PM

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