Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ORIGINAL EPITAPH ON A DRUNKARD by ROYALL TYLER

First Line: PRAY WHO LIES HERE? WHY DON'T YOU KNOW
Last Line: HE'S QUAFFING IN A WORLD OF SPIRITS.
Subject(s): ALCOHOLISM & ALCOHOLICS;
PRAY who lies here? why don't you know,
'Tis stammering, staggering, boozy Joe;
What dead at last? I thought that death
Could never stop his long long breath.
True, death ne'er threw his dart at him,
But kill'd, like David, with a sling:
Whether he's gone we do not know,
With spirits above or spirits below: --
But, if he former taste inherits,
He's quaffing in a world of spirits.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net