The poetical works of John Godfrey Saxe Household Edition : with illustrations |
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DRINKING SONG.
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 | The poetical works of John Godfrey Saxe |  |
DRINKING SONG.
BY A TETOTALER.
“Ex ipso fonte bibi.”—
Ovid.
Ovid.
I've been drinking, I've been drinking,
To intoxication's edge;
Do not chide me; for the tipple
Was n't mentioned in the pledge.
To intoxication's edge;
Do not chide me; for the tipple
Was n't mentioned in the pledge.
Nay, believe me,—'t was not Brandy
Wrought the roses that you see;
One may get a finer crimson
From a purer eau-de-vie.
Wrought the roses that you see;
One may get a finer crimson
From a purer eau-de-vie.
No, indeed; it was not Claret
(That were something overweak);
There 's a vastly better vintage
For the painting of a cheek.
(That were something overweak);
There 's a vastly better vintage
For the painting of a cheek.
Not Angelica,—the honey
By Loyola's children pressed
From the Andalusian clusters
Ripened in the Golden West;
By Loyola's children pressed
From the Andalusian clusters
Ripened in the Golden West;
Not Madeira, Hock, nor Sherry;
No, indeed, 't is none of these
Makes me giddy in the forehead,
Makes me tremble in the knees.
No, indeed, 't is none of these
Makes me giddy in the forehead,
Makes me tremble in the knees.
No; 't is not the Gallic “Widow”
That has turned my foolish brain,
Nor the wine of any vineyard
Found in Germany or Spain.
That has turned my foolish brain,
Nor the wine of any vineyard
Found in Germany or Spain.
87
Nay—I own it!—'t is the nectar
That a favored lover sips
(All unheeding of the danger!)
From a maiden's pulpy lips!
That a favored lover sips
(All unheeding of the danger!)
From a maiden's pulpy lips!
This it is that I 've been drinking
To intoxication's edge;
Till I marvel that the tipple
Is n't mentioned in the pledge!
To intoxication's edge;
Till I marvel that the tipple
Is n't mentioned in the pledge!
For the taste is so enchanting
'T is impossible to see,
Should it grow into a habit,
What the consequence may be.
'T is impossible to see,
Should it grow into a habit,
What the consequence may be.
Well, I'll heed the sage's lesson,
Pleasant, though it prove in vain,
And by drinking very largely
Try to sober me again!
Pleasant, though it prove in vain,
And by drinking very largely
Try to sober me again!
| The poetical works of John Godfrey Saxe | |