Old Wine
It was my father’s wine,--alas!It was his chiefest blissTo fill an old friend’s evening glassWith nectar such as this.I think I have as warm a heart,As kind a friend, as he;Another bumper ere we part!Old wine, old wine, for me.
In this we toasted William Pitt,Whom twenty now outshine;O’er this we laughed at Canning’s wit,Ere Hume’s was thought as fine;In this “The King”--“The Church”--“The Laws”--Have had their three times three;Sound wine befits as sound a cause;Old wine, old wine for me.
In this, when France in those long warsWas beaten black and blue,We used to drink our troops and tars,Our Wellesley and Pellew;Now, things are changed, though Britain’s fameMay out of fashion be,At least my wine remains the same!Old wine, old wine for me.
My neighbours, Robinson and Lamb,Drink French of last year’s growth;I’m sure, however they may sham,It disagrees with both.I don’t pretend to interfere;An Englishman is free;But none of that cheap poison here!Old wine, old wine for me.
Some dozens lose, I must allow,Something of strength and hue;And there are vacant spaces nowTo be filled up with new;And there are cobwebs round the bins,Which some don’t like to see;If these are all my cellar’s sins,Old wine, old wine for me.
Words in this poem
- chiefest a.
- First or foremost; chief; principal. [Superl. of Chief.]
- bumper n.
- A cup or glass filled to the brim, or till the liquor runs over, particularly in drinking a health or toast. [A corruption of bumbard, bombard, a large drinking vessel.]
- pitt n.
- A large cavity or hole in the ground, either natural or artificial; a cavity in the surface of a body; an indentation; specifically: (a) The shaft of a coal mine; a coal pit. [OE. pit, put, AS. pytt a pit, hole, L. puteus a well, pit.]
- outshine v. i.
- To shine forth.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Old Wine is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed. [selected], Project Gutenberg ebook #71008; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Winthrop Mackworth Praed, Old Wine, in Poems (1820–1839), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71008, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/praed-poems/old-wine.html, id L10247.
Form and metre
Old Wine is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCD alasA · blissB · glassA · thisB · heartC · heD · partC · meD
- 2 ABABCDCD pittA · outshineB · witA · fineB · lawsC · threeD · causeC · meD
- 3 ABABCDCD warsA · blueB · tarsA · pellewB · fameC · beD · sameC · meD
- 4 ABABCDCD lambA · growthB · shamA · bothB · interfereC · freeD · hereC · meD
- 5 ABABCDCD allowA · hueB · nowA · newB · binsC · seeD · sinsC · meD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It was my father’s wine,--alas! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| It was his chiefest bliss | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To fill an old friend’s evening glass | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With nectar such as this. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I think I have as warm a heart, | 8 | ········ |
| As kind a friend, as he; | 6 | ······ |
| Another bumper ere we part! | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| Old wine, old wine, for me. | 6 | ······ |
| In this we toasted William Pitt, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Whom twenty now outshine; | 6 | ·/˘·/· |
| O’er this we laughed at Canning’s wit, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ere Hume’s was thought as fine; | 6 | ······ |
| In this “The King”--“The Church”--“The Laws”-- | 8 | ········ |
| Have had their three times three; | 6 | ······ |
| Sound wine befits as sound a cause; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Old wine, old wine for me. | 6 | ······ |
| In this, when France in those long wars | 8 | ········ |
| Was beaten black and blue, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| We used to drink our troops and tars, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Our Wellesley and Pellew; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Now, things are changed, though Britain’s fame | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| May out of fashion be, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| At least my wine remains the same! | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Old wine, old wine for me. | 6 | ······ |
| My neighbours, Robinson and Lamb, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Drink French of last year’s growth; | 6 | ······ |
| I’m sure, however they may sham, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It disagrees with both. | 6 | ·˘˘/·· |
| I don’t pretend to interfere; | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| An Englishman is free; | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| But none of that cheap poison here! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Old wine, old wine for me. | 6 | ······ |
| Some dozens lose, I must allow, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Something of strength and hue; | 6 | /˘···· |
| And there are vacant spaces now | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To be filled up with new; | 7 | ···˘··· |
| And there are cobwebs round the bins, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Which some don’t like to see; | 6 | ······ |
| If these are all my cellar’s sins, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Old wine, old wine for me. | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.