Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MY GRANDMA'S BREW, by JENNIE BETTS HARTSWICK


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MY GRANDMA'S BREW, by                    
First Line: Somewhere, in lavender, is laid
Last Line: The elder-flower's fragrant crown?
Subject(s): Drinks & Drinking; Grandparents; Wine; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers


Somewhere, in lavender, is laid,
Within a carven coffer's space,
My grandma's frock of old brocade,
Her cherished fan, her treasured lace;
But most I prize that yellowed page
Which bears in script, as cobweb fine,
An epic of a gentler age --
Her rule for elder-blossom wine.

Long, long ago her fingers penned
These lines my eager eye beholds --
And added neatly at the end
A subtle "excellent for colds."
Best relic of my grandame's day
This slender volume now appears;
Its contents yield a faint bouquet
Disseminated down the years.

My spouse extols her Mechlin flounce,
Her fan of fragile ivory --
I sing her heady cherry-bounce --
A wonder-written recipe
Whose legend in parenthesis
With prudence qualifies her skill,
Lest carping critics take amiss,
"A glass will oft prevent a chill."

To you, dear dame, I, grateful, raise
An airy goblet, bubble-thin,
Accept, these arid nowadays,
The plaudits of your thirsty kin.
How put to more delightful use,
In which to pledge your fair renown,
The ardent cherry's limpid juice --
The elder-flower's fragrant crown?





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