Anacreontics (Benson, 1872)/The Drinker's Apology

by Carl Benson

 

THE DRINKER'S APOLOGY.

(FROM THE FRENCH.)

Come now! If I drink, where's the crime?Can you tell?
Look round us! All Nature is drinking as well.
The Earth drinks the dew, and the Sun, floating free,
Stoops to drink of the wave from the cup of the sea.
The tree, as he plunges his roots in the ground,
Through numberless mouths drinks the torrent profound.
All drink—but man only, that Scion divine,

While the others drink water, knows how to drink wine;
And, measureless tippler, can boast, he alone,
Having once drunk enough, that he still can drink on.