"Drink I yield to palates burning;
They who for soul's health are yearning,
Need the aid that I have given;
Since all pilgrims, at their praying,
Far or near, I am conveying
To the palaces of heaven."
Wine replied: "What thou hast vaunted
Proves thee full of fraud; for granted
That thou earnest ships o'er sea,
Yet thou then dost swell and riot;
Till they wreck thou hast no quiet;
Thus they are deceived through thee.
"He whose strength is insufficient
Thee to slake with heat efficient,
Sunk in mortal peril lies:
Trusting thee the poor wretch waneth,
And through thee at length attaineth
To the joys of Paradise.
"I'm a god, as that true poet
Naso testifies; men owe it
Unto me that they are sage;
When they do not drink, professors
Lose their wits and lack assessors
Round about the lecture-stage.
"'Tis impossible to sever
Truth from falsehood if you never
Learn to drink my juices neat.
Thanks to me, dumb speak, deaf listen,
Blind folk see, the senses glisten,
And the lame man finds his feet.
"Eld through me to youth returneth,
While thine influence o'erturneth
All a young man's lustihead;
By my force the world is laden
With new births, but boy or maiden
Through thy help was never bred."
Water saith: "A god thou! Just men
By thy craft become unjust men,
Bad, worse, worst, degenerous!
Thanks to thee, their words half uttered
Through the drunken lips are stuttered,
And thy sage is Didymus.
"I will speak the truth out wholly:
Earth bears fruit by my gift solely,
And the meadows bloom in May;
When it rains not, herbs and grasses
Dry with drought, spring's beauty passes,
Flowers and lilies fade away.
"Lo, thy crooked mother pining,
On her boughs the grapes declining,
Barren through the dearth of rain;
Mark her tendrils lean and sterile
O'er the parched earth at their peril
Bent in unavailing pain!
"Famine through all lands prevaileth,
Terror-struck the people waileth,
When I choose to keep away;
Christians kneel to Christ to gain me,
Jews and Pagans to obtain me
Ceaseless vows and offerings pay."