Section I

SAKI, thou know'st I worship wine;Let that delicious cup be mine.Wine! pure and limpid as my tears,Dispeller of a lover's fears;With thee inspired, with thee made bold,'Midst combat fierce my post I hold;With thee inspired, I touch the string,And, rapt, of love and pleasure sing.Thou art a lion, seeking prey,Along the glades where wild deer stray;And like a lion I would roam,To bring the joys I seek for home;With wine, life's dearest, sweetest treasure,I feel the thrill of every pleasure:—Bring, Saki, bring thy ruby now;Its lustre sparkles on thy brow,And, flashing with a tremulous light,Has made thy laughing eyes more brightBring, bring the liquid gem, and seeIts power, its wond'rous power, in me.—No ancestors have I to boast;The trace of my descent is lost.From Adam what do I inherit?What but a sad and troubled spirit?For human life, from oldest time,Is ever marked with guilt and crime;And man, betrayer and betrayed,Lurks like a spider in the shade;But wine still plays a magic part,Exalting high the drooping heart.Then, Saki, linger not, but giveThe blissful balm on which I live.Come, bring the juice of the purple vine,Bring, bring the musky-scented wine;A draught of wine the memory clears,And wakens thoughts of other years.—When blushing dawn illumes the sky,Fill up a bumper, fill it high!That wine which to the feverd lip,With anguish parched, when given to sip,Imparts a rapturous smile, and throwsA veil o'er all distracting woes:That wine, the lamp which, night and day,Lights us along our weary way;Which strews the path with fruits and flowers,And gilds with joy our fleeting hours;And lifts the mind, now grown elate,To Jemshid's glory, Jemshid's state.—But of the kingly race beware;'Tis not for thee their smiles to share:Smiles are deceitful, fire looks bright,And sheds a lucid, dazzling light;But, though attractive, it is knownThat safety dwells in flight alone.The moth the taper's radiance tries,But 'midst the flame in torment dies:And none lament that foolish prideWhich seeks to be with kings allied.—Bring, bring the musky-scented wine!The key of mirth! it must be mine;The key which opens wide the doorOf rapture's rich and varied store;Which makes the mounting spirits glad,And feel the pomp of Kai-Kobád.Wine o'er the temper casts a spellOf kindness indescribable:Then, since I'm in the drinking vein,Bring, bring the luscious wine again!From the vintner bring a fresh supply,And let not the reveller's lips be dry.—Come, Saki, thou art not old, nor lame;Thou 'dst not incur from a minstrel blame;Let him wash from his heart the dust of sorrow;And riot in social bliss till the morrow;Let the sound of the goblet delight his ear,Like the music that breathes from Heaven's own sphere.