Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE INEBRIATE, by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE INEBRIATE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Not a sou had he got - not a guniea or note
Last Line: And we left him alone in his glory.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ingoldsby, Thomas
Subject(s): Alcoholism & Alcoholics; Wolfe, Charles (1791-1823); Drunkards; Alcohol Abuse


Not a sou had he got, -- not a guinea or note,
And he look'd confoundedly flurried,
As he bolted away without paying his shot,
And the Landlady after him hurried.

We saw him again at dead of night,
When home from the Club returning;
We twigg'd the Doctor beneath the light
Of the gas-lamp brilliantly burning.

All bare, and exposed to the midnight dews,
Reclined in the gutter we found him.
And he look'd like a gentleman taking a snooze,
With his Marshall cloak around him.

'The Doctor's as drunk as the d-----,' we said,
And we managed a shutter to borrow;
We raised him, and sigh'd at the thought that his head
Would 'consumedly ache' on the morrow.

We bore him home, and we put him to bed,
And we told his wife and his daughter
To give him, next morning, a couple of red
Herrings, with soda-water. --

Loudly they talk'd of his money that's gone,
And his Lady began to upbraid him;
But little he reck'd, so they let him snore on
'Neath the counter-pane just as we laid him.

We tuck'd him in, and had hardly done
When, beneath the window calling,
We heard the rough voice of a son of a gun
Of a watchman 'One o'clock!' bawling.

Slowly and sadly we all walk'd down
From his room in the uppermost story;
A rushlight we placed on the cold hearth-stone,
And we left him alone in his glory.





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