What is Enough? An idle dream! One cannot have enough, I swear, Of Ices or Meringues-and-Cream, Nougat or Chocolate Eclairs,
Of Oysters or of Caviar, Of Prawns or Pate de Foie Grar! Who would not willingly forsake Kindred and Home, without a fuss,
For Icing from a Birthday Cake, Or juicy fat Asparagus, And journey over countless seas For New Potatoes and Green Peas?
They say that a Contented Mind Is a Continual Feast;— but where The mental frame, and how to find, Which can with Turtle Soup compare?
No mind, however full of Ease, Could be Continual Toasted Cheese. For dinner have a sole to eat, ( Some Perrier Jouet,‘ 92,)
An Entree then ( and, with the meat, A bottle of Lafitte will do ), A quail, a glass of port ( just one ), Liqueurs and coffee, and you've done.
But should you want a hearty meal, And not this gourmet's lightsome snack, Fill up with terrapin and teal, Clam chowder, crabs and canvasback;
With all varieties of sauce, And diff'rent wines for ev'ry course. Your tastes may be of simpler type;— A homely glass of “half-and-half,”
An onion and a dish of tripe, Or headpiece of the kindly calf. ( Cruel perhaps, but then, you know, “‘ Faut tout souffrir pour etre veau!” )
‘ Tis a mistake to eat too much Of any dishes but the best; And you, of course, should never touch A thing you know you can n't digest;
For instance, lobster;— if you do, Well,— I'm amayonnaised at you! Let this be your heraldic crest, A bottle ( charge ) of Champagne,
A chicken ( gorged ) with salad ( dress'd ), Below, this motto to explain — “Enough is Very Good, may be; Too Much is Good Enough for Me!”
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