Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto
those that be of heavy hearts.
Let him drink--and remember his misery no more.
_Proverbs--Chap. xxxi. 6 and 7_.
This is a dark and dreary world
To which we're vainly clinging--
We spurn at life, yet dread the fate
Each hour is nearer bringing.
It is not love--it is not hope,
That binds us to our sorrow--
But wild vague fears--a shrinking dread
Of an unearthly morrow:
Then wreath the bowl, and pour the wine--
A truce to sober thinking--
And pledge the joy that lingers yet--
The deep, deep joy of drinking.
Oh! 'tis a dark and fearful curse
Hangs o'er this brief existence--
The knowledge of a fixed doom
That mocks our poor resistance.
In vain the path is strewed with flowers,
The truth will ne'er forsake us--
A grisly demon dogs our steps,
And must at last o'ertake us:
Then wreath the bowl, and pour the wine--
Avaunt all idle thinking--
And pledge the joy that yet remains--
The deep, deep joy of drinking.