Anacreontics (Benson, 1872)/Hochheimer
HOCHHEIMER.
Is there anything much sublimer
Than a jolly good glass of Hochheimer?
Of Bordeaux I always shall speak in terms of praise
(How nicely it and salmon go together!),
And it never is in vain to offer me Champagne,
However hot or cold be the weather,
Though I own I do not care a speech in Congress for Madeira,
While Sol is at his present intensity;
Pale Sherry, put in ice, for a glass or two, is nice—
Though Robeson says it is a proof of density
In mortal, young or old, to drink his sherry cold,
But I do not submit to his authority;
And punches—let me see—I know one, two and three,[1]
But don't know which should have the priority,
But just now, of all the tipples that inspire a
lively rhymer,
I own a special preference for '68 Hochheimer.
Well the French might want the Rhine,
Where they raise this lovely wine!
Well the Germans might be stout
In such a cause to fight it out!
And candid men have aye confessed
Poets, whose wine is good, are best.
There is a great way from A. de Musset
To the gorgeous bard of Weimar;
The one for his nip absinthe did sip,
The other drank Hochheimer.
Would you know how to drink this wine?
Tell your man before you dine
(Or if you have a Phyllis, tell her)
To bring the bottle from the cellar,
As straight as he (or she) is able,
The moment ere you go to table;
That's the proper way to drink it;
Iceing doesn't pay; don't think it.
For a swell man like you, a swell goblet will do
To pass the rich draught to your throttle;
For a big-bellied glass (sure as Dow is an ass)
Is the mate to your long-throated bottle.
And the curve of the lip adds a zest to your sip
(Like the cream on a strawberry pottle),
But after your meat you must eat nothing sweet;
Then I bet you don't stir from the spot till
Perforce you stop at the last, last drop, like a true Parnassus climber,
And leave a very empty flask that held the brave Hochheimer.
- ↑ Davis, Mæcenas and La Reine,
Try them all, and try back again.