IN a blind corner jolly Bacchus taught The Nymphs and Satyrs poetry; Myself (a thing scarce to be thought) Was at that time a stander by. And ever since the whim runs in my head, With heavenly frenzy I'm on fire; Dear Bacchus, let me not be punished For raving, when thou didst inspire. Ecstatically drunk, I now dare sing Thy bigot Thyades, and the source Whence thy brisk wine, honey, and milk did spring, Enchannell'd by thy sceptre's force. Bold as I am, I dare yet higher fly, And sing bright Ariadne's Crown, Rejoice to see bold Pentheus' destiny, And grave Lycurgus tumbled down. Rivers and seas thine empire all obey, When thou thy standard dost advance, Wild mountaineers, thy vassals, trim and gay, In tune and time stagger and dance. Thou, when great Jove began to fear his throne (In no small danger then he was), The mighty Rhoecus thou didst piss upon, And of that lion mad'st an ass. 'Tis true, thy talent is not war, but mirth; The fiddle, not the trumpet, thine; Yet didst thou bravely lay about thee then, Great Moderator, God of Wine. And when to Hell in triumph thou didst ride O'er Cerberus thou didst prevail, The silly cur, thee for his Master own'd, And like a puppy wagg'd his tail. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CHAUCERS WORDES UNTO ADAM, HIS OWN SCRIVEYN by GEOFFREY CHAUCER HE HAD HIS DREAM by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE GOOD SHEPHERD by FELIX LOPE DE VEGA CARPIO WILLIE WINKIE by WILLIAM MILLER DEEDS OF VALOR AT SANTIAGO by CLINTON SCOLLARD WHITSUNDAY 1644 by JOSEPH BEAUMONT |