To the fervour ’tis thine to inspire.’[183]
Bertin du Rocheret, who by no means shared his friend Voltaire’s admiration for the sparkling vintage of Ay, sang the praises of the still wine of the Champagne after the following fashion in 1741:
‘No, such blockheads do not sip
Of that most delicious wine;
Soul of love and fellowship,
Sweet as truly ’tis benign.
No, their palate, spoilt and worn,
Craves adult’rate juice to drain;
Poison raw which we should scorn,