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Read more poems by Robert Service: Robert Service Poems at Poetry X.

"Tuberculosis should not be,"
      The old professor said.
"If folks would hearken unto me
      'Twould save a million dead.
Nay, no consumptive needs to die,
             --A cure have I.
             
"From blood of turtle I've distilled
             An elixir of worth;
Let every sufferer be thrilled
             And sing for joy of earth;
Yet every doctor turns his back
             And calls me quack.

"Alas! They do not want to cure,
             For sickness is their meat;
So persecution I endure,
             And die in dark defeat:
Ye lungers, listen to my call!
             --I'll save you all."

The old Professor now is dead,
      And turtles of the sea,
Knowing their blood they need not shed,
      Are festive in their glee:
While sanitoriums are crammed
             With legions dammed.

Added: 25 Mar 2002 | Last Read: 4 Sep 2026 3:30 AM | Viewed: 4288 times

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