Poor, empty-eyed beggar! It's little you think What you ask when you ask for "the price of a drink." No paltry five cents and no dime will suffice For the price of a drink is a terrible price. Go, ask that poor vagabond there in the ditch Who once was a merchant, respected and rich; Inquire of the creature who just staggered by, DespaIi in his spirit and death in his eye; Ask yonder sad woman. whose desolate life Has drunk of all woes ''" the inebriate's wife And question, O question that quivering child, Just fled from a father drink-angry and wild. The price of a drink, as they all will agree Is the pride of the upright, the joy of free, It's empIoyment and confidence, comfort andwealth. The honor of friends and the treasure of health. The price of a drink, as they sadly will tell Is a sorrowful earth and a horrible hell. For the soul of the drunkard is foul as his breath, And he dies at the last to an infinite death. The price of a drink? Though I gave you to buy, It is you pay the price of the liquor, not I. O brother, turn, turn from the perilous brink, And never more proffer the price of a drink! |