DRINK TO ME ONLY WITH THINE EYES

With apologies to the shade of Ben Jonson

RICHARD Le GALLIENNE

(Rewritten in accordance with the Eighteenth Amendment)

DRINK to me only with thine eyes. For thou must guess again If thou hast any wild surmise Of contraband champagne; The thirst that from thy soul doth rise Doth look to me in vain; I cannot, darling, put thee wise— Gone every drop and drain.

I sent thee late a quart of rye, By so much pitying thee— Which thou didst scarcely breathe upon Ere it had ceased to be— Not giving thee the hope that I Had other quarts for thee; Thou sent'st the empty bottle back, Without a smell for me.

With Old Tom gin at fifteen per, And Scotch at twenty-five, We'll have to find some other way, Beloved, to survive; A kiss within the cup, indeed, Dead poets may revive, But living bards need stronger stuff, Dear coz, to keep alive.

Might I a hooker swift and straight Adown my gullet pour, Then with a heart for any fate, I'd promptly call for more; Or might I Ehret's nectar sip, I'd ask no drink divine; If but upon the cup my lipI would not ask for thine.