Ode for a Social Meeting
By Oliver Wendell Holmes
WITH SLIGHT ALTERATIONS BY A TEE-TOTALER
1857
Come! fill a fresh bumper,--for why should we go logwood While thenectarstill reddens our cups as they flow? decoction Pour out therich juicesstill bright with the sun, dye-stuff Till o'er the brimmed crystal therubiesshall run. half-ripened apples Thepurple-globed clusterstheir life-dews have bled; taste sugar of lead. How sweet is thebreathof thefragrance they shed!rank poisons wines!!! For summer'slast roseslie hid in thewinesstable-boys smoking long-nines. That were garnered bymaidens who laughed thro' the vines.scowl howl scoff sneer, Then asmile, and aglass, and atoast, and acheer, strychnine and whiskey, and ratsbane and beer! For allthe good wine, and we've some of it here!In cellar, in pantry, in attic, in hall, Down, down, with the tyrant that masters us all!Long live the gay servant that laughs for us all!
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