 | The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes |  |
PENITENTIA
FEBRUARY 27, 1860
Sweet cousin, if too hard I hit,
To any fine I will submit.
Drench me with teacups of Souchong
Redder than garnets, upas-strong,—
Drug me with coffee, make me drain
Huge bowls of Hyson, Slumber's bane,
Too happy for my pardon's sake
To lie till morning, wide awake.
To any fine I will submit.
Drench me with teacups of Souchong
Redder than garnets, upas-strong,—
Drug me with coffee, make me drain
Huge bowls of Hyson, Slumber's bane,
Too happy for my pardon's sake
To lie till morning, wide awake.
By all the firefly sparks that fill
The twilight groves of Shady hill,—
(Faint emblems of the gleams that flit
And sparkle through a woman's wit,)
By every smile on woman's face,—
By all that makes my Cousin Grace,—
By every Nymph of cakes and tea
If I said wasp—I meant a bee.
The twilight groves of Shady hill,—
350
And sparkle through a woman's wit,)
By every smile on woman's face,—
By all that makes my Cousin Grace,—
By every Nymph of cakes and tea
If I said wasp—I meant a bee.
Alas! we have been friends so long
But tongues are sharp, and tea is strong
And words are sudden, and minds are weak,
And to be thoughtless when we speak
Is to be human.—
Chase away
This silly stinging “wasp”, I pray,
And on the next Triennial see
If you are not declared A. B.
But tongues are sharp, and tea is strong
And words are sudden, and minds are weak,
And to be thoughtless when we speak
Is to be human.—
Chase away
This silly stinging “wasp”, I pray,
And on the next Triennial see
If you are not declared A. B.
| The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes | |