Page 88 - Poetry-Books

Beer often brings a bier to man,
Coughing a coffin brings.
And too much ale will make us ail,
As well as other things.

The person lies who says he lies,
When he is not reclining;
And when consumptive folks decline.
They all decline declining.

Quails do not quail before the storm,
A bow will bow before it;
We cannot rein the rain at all—
No earthly power reigns o’er it.

The dyer dyes a while, then dies—
To dye he’s always trying;
Until upon his dying bed
He thinks no more of dyeing.

A son of Mars mars many a son,
And Deys must have their days;
And every knight should pray each night
To Him who weighs his ways.

‘Tis meet that man should mete out meat
To feed one’s future son;
The fare should fare on love alone,
Else one cannot be won.

The springs shoot forth each spring, and shoots
Shoot forward one and all;
Though summer kills the flowers, it leaves
The leaves to fall in fall.

I would a story here commence,
But you might think it stale;
So we’ll suppose that we have reached
The tail end of our tale.

—(Crown Jewels, 1887)

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