"But I will dare,
With a goodly drought,
To drink, nor spare
Till my thirst be out.
"I do not laugh
Like a Christian fool
But in silence quaff
The liquor cool
"At door of tent
'Neath evening star,
With daylight spent,
And Uriel afar!
"Then, through the sky,
Lo, the emerald hills!
My faith swells high,
My bosom thrills:
"I see them hearken,
The Houris that wait!
Their dark eyes darken
The diamond gate!
"I hear the float
Of their chant divine,
And my heart like a boat
Sails thither on wine!
"Can an evil thing
Make beauty more?
Or a sinner bring
To the heavenly door?
"The sun-rain fine
Would sink and escape,
But is drunk by the vine,
Is stored in the grape:
"And the prisoned light
I free again:
It flows in might
Through my shining brain
"I love and I know;
The truth is mine;
I walk in the glow
Of the sun-bred wine.