Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE WINE OF LIFE, by JOHN LAWSON STODDARD Poet's Biography First Line: Earthen jar of quaint design Last Line: Tis in age that one lives best. Subject(s): Drinks & Drinking; Life; Youth; Wine | ||||||||
Earthen jar of quaint design, Fragile clay and slender mould, I shall soon have drained the wine Which you still contrive to hold, -- Wine that sixty years ago Seemed about to overflow. Few the draughts that now remain, And I husband them with care, For naught ever comes again That is once exhausted there, And the emptied jar is cast To the scrap-heap of the past. Oh, the wine we rashly waste When held brimming to the lip! What a difference in its taste When we drink it sip by sip, As a miser counts his gold On a hearth that leaves him cold! But why should we feel distress If the jar be far from filled? Though its contents may be less, Yet its essence is distilled, And the best wine always clears With the passing of the years. Fermentation is for youth, But serenity for age; For a knowledge of the truth Men have always sought the Sage, And though youth may live with zest, 'Tis in age that one lives best. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A CUP OF TREMBLINGS by JOHN HOLLANDER VINTAGE ABSENCE by JOHN HOLLANDER SENT WITH A BOTTLE OF BURGUNDY FOR A BIRTHDAY by JOHN HOLLANDER TO A CIVIL SERVANT by EDMUND JOHN ARMSTRONG WINE by FRIEDRICH MARTIN VON BODENSTEDT THE GOOD FELLOW by ALEXANDER BROME WHEN A WOMAN LOVES A MAN by DAVID LEHMAN A MAY MONODY by JOHN LAWSON STODDARD |
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