Pereant osores;
Pereat diabolus,
Quivis anti-burschius
Atque irrisores.
[CHAPTER XV.]
DRINKING CUSTOMS OF STUDENT LIFE, ANCIENT AND MODERN.
Seize the glittering wine-cup there!
See ye not, no purply winking,
Blood of nature, rich and rare?
Let us grasp it, boldly drinking,
That a fire-strength may glow
Through each vein--a new creation!
Sacred is of wine the flow--
Is of youth the glad elation!
Uhland.
Have the gods drunk nectar!--the gods, exempt from all the cares of mortal existence, and shall then poor mankind be envied the enjoyment of their earthly nectar? No; not without cause was it celebrated by all the ancient poets. Even the great Reformer himself joined in its praise; and Horace says--
Narratur et prisci Catonis,
Sæpe mero caluisse virtus.