48
SONGS, LEGENDS, AND BALLADS.
THE LOVING CUP OF THE PAPYRUS.[1]
WISE men use days as husbandmen use bees,
And steal rich drops from every pregnant hour;
Others, like wasps on blossomed apple-trees,
Find gall, not honey, in the sweetest flower.
Congratulations for a scene like this!
The olden times are here—these shall be olden
When, years to come, remembering present bliss,
We sigh for past Papyrian dinners golden.
We thank the gods! we call them back to light —
Call back to hoary Egypt for Osiris,
Who first made wine, to join our board to-night,
And drain this loving cup with the Papyrus.
- ↑ On February 3d, 1877, at the dinner of "The Papyrus," a club composed of literary men and artists of Boston, a beautiful crystal "Loving Cup" was presented to the club by Mr. Wm. A. Hovey.
