FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74  
75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   >>   >|  
d welcome, too; Pray what better could they do? Fare thee well: if years efface From thy heart love's burning trace, Keep, oh keep that hallowed seat From the tread of vulgar feet; If the blue lips of the sea Wait with icy kiss for me, Let not thine forget the vow, Sealed how often, Love, as now. A SONG OF OTHER DAYS As o'er the glacier's frozen sheet Breathes soft the Alpine rose, So through life's desert springing sweet The flower of friendship grows; And as where'er the roses grow Some rain or dew descends, 'T is nature's law that wine should flow To wet the lips of friends. Then once again, before we part, My empty glass shall ring; And he that has the warmest heart Shall loudest laugh and sing. They say we were not born to eat; But gray-haired sages think It means, Be moderate in your meat, And partly live to drink. For baser tribes the rivers flow That know not wine or song; Man wants but little drink below, But wants that little strong. Then once again, etc. If one bright drop is like the gem That decks a monarch's crown, One goblet holds a diadem Of rubies melted down! A fig for Caesar's blazing brow, But, like the Egyptian queen, Bid each dissolving jewel glow My thirsty lips between. Then once again, etc. The Grecian's mound, the Roman's urn, Are silent when we call, Yet still the purple grapes return To cluster on the wall; It was a bright Immortal's head They circled with the vine, And o'er their best and bravest dead They poured the dark-red wine. Then once again, etc. Methinks o'er every sparkling glass Young Eros waves his wings, And echoes o'er its dimples pass From dead Anacreon's strings; And, tossing round its beaded brim Their locks of floating gold, With bacchant dance and choral hymn Return the nymphs of old. Then once again, etc. A welcome then to joy and mirth, From hearts as fresh as ours, To scatter o'er the dust of earth Their sweetly mingled flowers; 'T is Wisdom's self the cup that fills In spite of Folly's frown, And Nature, from her vine-clad hills, That rains her life-blood down! Then once again, before we part, My empty glass shall ring; And he that has the warmest heart Shall loudest laugh and sing. SONG FOR A TEMPERANCE DINNER TO WHICH LADIES WERE INVITED (NEW YORK MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, NOVEMBER, 1842) A HEALTH to dear woman! She bids us untwine, From the cup it encircles, the fast-clinging vine; Bu
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74  
75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

bright

 

warmest

 

loudest

 
echoes
 

poured

 

bravest

 

NOVEMBER

 

circled

 

sparkling

 
Methinks

HEALTH

 

silent

 

Grecian

 
dissolving
 

thirsty

 

encircles

 

untwine

 

dimples

 

cluster

 

purple


grapes

 

clinging

 
return
 

Immortal

 

MERCANTILE

 

choral

 

nymphs

 
Return
 

bacchant

 
floating

sweetly
 

mingled

 
flowers
 

scatter

 
hearts
 

LADIES

 

DINNER

 

TEMPERANCE

 

INVITED

 

LIBRARY


ASSOCIATION

 

Wisdom

 

Nature

 

beaded

 

tossing

 

Anacreon

 

strings

 

Sealed

 
forget
 

desert