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Oliver Wendell Holmes - A Song Of Other days
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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.
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