Deacon Taylor

I belonged to the church,
And to the party of prohibition;
And the villagers thought I died of eating watermelon
In truth I had cirrhosis of the liver,
For every noon for thirty years,
I slipped behind the prescription partition
In Trainor's drug store
And poured a generous drink
From the bottle marked
"Spiritus frumenti."

Deacon Taylor Questions:

1. What is the irony here?
2. What does "spiritus frumenti" mean?

Deacon Taylor
This poem reflects Master's view of William Taylor Davidson (1837-1915), a Lewistown newspaper editor, religious exponent, and temperamce advocate. He was a heavy drinker early in his life, but he later became an ardent prohibitionist. In 1884 he was the cheif organizer of the local prohibition political party.