 | The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley |  |
679
A CUP OF TEA
I have sipped, with drooping lashes,
Dreamy draughts of Verzenay;
I have flourished brandy-smashes
In the wildest sort of way;
I have joked with “Tom and Jerry”
Till “wee hours ayont the twal”—
But I've found my tea the very
Safest tipple of them all!
Dreamy draughts of Verzenay;
I have flourished brandy-smashes
In the wildest sort of way;
I have joked with “Tom and Jerry”
Till “wee hours ayont the twal”—
But I've found my tea the very
Safest tipple of them all!
'Tis a mystical potation
That exceeds in warmth of glow
And divine exhilaration
All the drugs of long ago—
All of old magicians' potions—
Of Medea's philtered spells—
Or of fabled isles and oceans
Where the Lotos-eater dwells!
That exceeds in warmth of glow
And divine exhilaration
All the drugs of long ago—
All of old magicians' potions—
Of Medea's philtered spells—
Or of fabled isles and oceans
Where the Lotos-eater dwells!
Though I've reveled o'er late lunches
With blasé dramatic stars,
And absorbed their wit and punches
And the fumes of their cigars—
Drank in the latest story,
With a cocktail either end,—
I have drained a deeper glory
In a cup of tea, my friend.
With blasé dramatic stars,
And absorbed their wit and punches
And the fumes of their cigars—
680
With a cocktail either end,—
I have drained a deeper glory
In a cup of tea, my friend.
Green, Black, Moyune, Formosa,
Congou, Amboy, Pingsuey—
No odds the name it knows—ah,
Fill a cup of it for me!
And, as I clink my china
Against your goblet's brim,
My tea in steam shall twine a
Fragrant laurel round its rim.
Congou, Amboy, Pingsuey—
No odds the name it knows—ah,
Fill a cup of it for me!
And, as I clink my china
Against your goblet's brim,
My tea in steam shall twine a
Fragrant laurel round its rim.
| The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley | |