 | Nacoochee ; or, the beautiful star, with other Poems |  |
DRINK AND AWAY.
There is a beautiful rill in Barbary received into a large basin, which bears the name signifying “Drink and Away,” from the great danger of meeting with rogues and assassins.—
Dr. Shaw.
If the stranger should pass over Barbary's waters,
There is one little rill that may tempt him to stay,
For the nectar that makes it so sweet to her daughters,
Is the warning that tells him to “Drink and Away.”
Then the words that are written, dear pilgrim! rely on,
For no joy in this world should entice thee to stay—
If the earth have no waters like those are in Zion,
Oh! think of her fountains—then “Drink and Away.”
There is one little rill that may tempt him to stay,
For the nectar that makes it so sweet to her daughters,
Is the warning that tells him to “Drink and Away.”
Then the words that are written, dear pilgrim! rely on,
For no joy in this world should entice thee to stay—
If the earth have no waters like those are in Zion,
Oh! think of her fountains—then “Drink and Away.”
72
If the soul should be parched by that hot raging fever
That dries up the heart in this friendless abode,
Oh! forget not the hopes of the righteous forever,
For the stars are the footsteps that lead thee to God!
And the voice that shall never be lost to the stranger,
Though the fountains of Pleasure may tempt him to stay—
Is the voice of the Lord that shall guard him from danger
When friends all forsake him—then “Drink and Away!”
That dries up the heart in this friendless abode,
Oh! forget not the hopes of the righteous forever,
For the stars are the footsteps that lead thee to God!
And the voice that shall never be lost to the stranger,
Though the fountains of Pleasure may tempt him to stay—
Is the voice of the Lord that shall guard him from danger
When friends all forsake him—then “Drink and Away!”
But put not thy trust in this world's shining river,
For no heart by its waters was ever made whole;
And the stranger that seeks for its virtue shall never,
No, never in Lethe find rest for his soul.
And when broken of rest by that cool shady mountain,
Whose height over all is the beacon of day,
Then drink from the depths of that pure holy fountain
Whose warning shall never say—“Drink and Away.”
For no heart by its waters was ever made whole;
And the stranger that seeks for its virtue shall never,
No, never in Lethe find rest for his soul.
And when broken of rest by that cool shady mountain,
Whose height over all is the beacon of day,
Then drink from the depths of that pure holy fountain
Whose warning shall never say—“Drink and Away.”
| Nacoochee ; or, the beautiful star, with other Poems | |