Friday 2 May 2008

Drinking Song to Sleep

Great god of sleep, since it must be,
That we must give some hours to thee,
Invade me not while the free bowl
Glows in my cheeks, and warms my soul;
That be my only time to snore,
When I can laugh, and drink no more;
Short, very short be then thy reign,
For I’m in haste to laugh and drink again.

Lord Lansdowne, “Drinking Song to Sleep”, in The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper, Vol. XI., ed., S. Johnson, (London: 1810), p.33, online at Google Books.

3 comments:

James Higham said...

Fine conjunction of syllables indeed, arranged in a piquant order.

Malcolm Pollack said...

Cheers!

Sean Jeating said...

Sláinte!