Ho, gentlemen! Lift your glasses up, Each gallant, each swain and lover! A kiss to the beads that brim in the cup— A laugh for the foam spilt over! For the soul is aflame and the heart beats high, And care has unloosened its tether, "Now drink," said the sage, "for tomorrow we die"— So, let's have a toast together! Swing the goblet aloft, to the lips let it fall, Then bend you the knee to address her, And drink, gentle sirs, to the queen of them all— To the woman that's good—God bless her! A youth is a madcap, and time is a churl, Pleasure calls and remorse follows after; The world hustles on in its pitiless whirl, With its kisses, its tears and its laughter. But there's one gentle heart in its bosom of white— The maid with the tender eyes gleaming— Who has all the wealth of my homage tonight, Where she lies in her innocent dreaming. And a watch over her my spirit shall keep, While the angels lean down to caress her, And I'll pledge her again in her beautiful sleep— The woman that's good—God bless her! Ah, Bohemia's honey is sweet to the sip, And the song and the dance are alluring! The mischievous maid with the mutinous lip Has a charm that is very enduring! But out from the smoke wreaths and music and lace Of that world of the tawdrily clever, There floats the rare spell of the pure little face That has chased away folly forever. And I drain my last toast ere I go to my rest— Oh, fortunate earth to possess her— To the dear, tender heart in the pure, white breast Of the woman that's good—God bless her! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO S.M., A YOUNG AFRICAN PAINTER, ON SEEING HIS WORKS by PHILLIS WHEATLEY ERRING IN COMPANY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS THE LOVE SONNETS OF PROTEUS: 24, ASKING FOR HER HEART (2) by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT THE LITTLE ONES by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON OBSERVATIONS IN THE ART OF ENGLISH POESY: 21. ELEGIAC VERSE: THE FOURTH EPIGRAM by THOMAS CAMPION PATCHWORK by GLADYS VERVILLE DEANE ELEGY: 14. A TALE OF A CITIZEN AND HIS WIFE by JOHN DONNE |