 | “ONLY THIS ONCE.”
Numbers x. 17. Water-drops |  |
6. “ONLY THIS ONCE.”
Numbers x. 17.
“Only this once:” the wine-cup glowed,
All sparkling with its ruby ray,
The bacchanalian revel flowed,
And Folly made the madness gay.
Then he, so oft, so deeply warned,
The sway of conscience rashly spurned,
His promise of repentance scorned,
And coward-like, to guilt returned.
“Only this once:” the tale is told,
He wildly quaff'd the poisonous tide;
With more than Esau's frenzy sold
The birth-right of his soul, and died.
I do not say that breath forsook
The clay, and left his pulses dead,
But Reason in her empire shook,
And all the life of life was fled.
All sparkling with its ruby ray,
The bacchanalian revel flowed,
And Folly made the madness gay.
Then he, so oft, so deeply warned,
The sway of conscience rashly spurned,
His promise of repentance scorned,
And coward-like, to guilt returned.
“Only this once:” the tale is told,
He wildly quaff'd the poisonous tide;
With more than Esau's frenzy sold
The birth-right of his soul, and died.
I do not say that breath forsook
The clay, and left his pulses dead,
But Reason in her empire shook,
And all the life of life was fled.
38
Then angel eyes with pity wept,
When he, whom Virtue fain would save,
His sacred vow so falsely kept,
And strangely chose a drunkard's grave.
“Only this once:” Beware! beware!
Gaze not upon the blushing wine;
Repel temptation's siren snare,
And prayerful seek for strength divine.
When he, whom Virtue fain would save,
His sacred vow so falsely kept,
And strangely chose a drunkard's grave.
“Only this once:” Beware! beware!
Gaze not upon the blushing wine;
Repel temptation's siren snare,
And prayerful seek for strength divine.
| “ONLY THIS ONCE.”
Numbers x. 17. Water-drops | |