Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, OLD NOAH'S INVENTION, by GEORGE NEAVES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

OLD NOAH'S INVENTION, by                    
First Line: We read that old noah, soon after the flood
Last Line: And can make a right use, of old noah's invention.
Subject(s): Drinks & Drinking; Noah (bible); Wine


We read that old Noah, soon after the flood,
Found out a new liquor to quicken the blood:
Of water grown tired in his long navigation,
He hit on the process of vinification.
It doesn't appear that he took out a patent,
But the wondrous discovery wasn't long latent;
For Noah, though such might not be his intention,
Got drunk on this very stupendous invention.

And ever since then we have evidence ample,
Mankind has been following Noah's example:
Sometimes they get drunk, and sometimes they do not;
But the business of drinking is seldom forgot.
They drink when they're merry, they drink when they're said;
They drink whensoever good drink 's to be had.
What marriage or christening would meet with attention
If you didn't still practice this wondrous invention?

The Wine-Cup may Poetry claim as a daughter,
Though a poet or two have been drinkers of water:
Good wine to the wise is a swift winged steed,
While abstainers in general come little speed.
Would Homer or Horace have written a line
Without plenty of Greek and Falernian wine?
What were North without Ambrose? or who would e'er mention
A Socratic repast without Noah's invention?

Old Plato, the prince of political sages,
For the uses of drinking his credit engages:
When pleasure invites, if you'd learn self-denial,
A convivial meeting will serve as a trial.
Should you wish to find out if a man's a good fellow,
His virtues and faults will appear when he's mellow:
To whatever good gifts he may e'er make pretension,
The truth you can test by old Noah's invention.

Some folks would persuade us from drink to abstain,
For they trace every crime to that terrible bane;
But if drinking's a sin, yet I cannot help thinking
Mankind have had sins independent of drinking,
And their lives were no better—in fact, they were worse;
The Antediluvians were free from that curse,
And at least you can't prove any moral declension
Since the date when old Noah made known his invention.

Then wisely partake of the generous juice,
But don't forfeit the boon by excess or abuse;
At your board let the Muses and Graces be found,
And the light-hearted Virtues still hover around.
And let this, I beseech you, be one of your rules:
Never show any folly in presence of fools;
For the wise man alone has a due comprehension,
And can make a right use, of old Noah's invention.





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