Ode on Melancholy Drugs and Alcohol Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Line)

Quote #4

          Make not your rosary of yew-berries, (5)

Yew-berries are another poison that we should reject. There are a lot of drugs, herbs, poisons, and wines packed into the opening lines of this poem, and the speaker tells us forcefully to reject them all.

Quote #5

     For shade to shade will come too drowsily,
          And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul. (9-10)

This is where the speaker tells us why we should reject all those drugs and poisons: it's because they will make us numb and "drowsy," and we should be awake and alert, even in our anguish.