"I have fed purely upon ale; I have eat my ale, drank my ale, and I always sleep upon ale"

George Farquhar’s playful assertion of subsisting entirely on ale speaks to both the cultural context of his time and the performative excess of his wit. Ale, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, served as both a staple beverage and, sometimes, a metaphorical stand-in for sustenance itself, particularly among the British working and artistic classes. The speaker’s claim, "I have fed purely upon ale; I have eat my ale, drank my ale, and I always sleep upon ale”, blurs the line between literal nourishment and an exaggerated attachment to convivial ritual.

Eating and drinking ale stretches the idea of consumption to encompass both physical need and social pleasure. By claiming to have “eat my ale,” Farquhar tickles the ear with impossibility, since ale cannot be eaten, only drunk. This playful distortion highlights not only the ubiquity of ale in daily life but also how entwined it is with the routines of existence. To "always sleep upon ale" extends the metaphor even further, suggesting either a literal drunkenness that lasts until sleep or, figuratively, that a life shaped by ale-induced camaraderie extends into all hours.

Underlying the humor is a subtle critique or observation about society and habit. Ale, often safer than water at the time, was not simply a vice but a necessity, a fact that blurs the judgment between indulgence and survival. Farquhar’s speaker embodies both the jovial excesses and the mundane realities of his era. The repetition and completeness of the phrasing, the reliance on ale from morning to night, could be read as a commentary on dependency or even the monotony of routine. At the same time, the boastful tone and exaggerated imagery elevate ordinary habit into a source of comic pride, turning dependence into identity with a wink. Through this layered declaration, Farquhar encapsulates the social, practical, and performative dimensions of daily life in his time.