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Placid Pug, and Other Rhymes

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<h2> SONG FOR VINTNERS </h2> THE Lion laps the limpid lake, The Pard refuses wine, The sinuous Lizard and the Snake, The petulant Porcupine, Agree in this, their thirst to quench Only with Nature's natural "drench." In vain with beer you tempt the Deer, Or lure the Marmozet; The early morning Chanticleer, The painted Parroquet, Alike, on claret and champagne Gaze with unfaltering disdain. No ale or spirit tempts the Ferret, No juice of grape the Toad. <div class="fig"> <ANTIMG src="images/022m.jpg" alt="022m " width-obs="100%" /> </div> In vain towards the "Harp and Merit" The patient Ox you goad; Not his in rapture to extol The praises of the flowing bowl. The silent Spider laughs at cider, The Horse despises port; The Crocodile (whose mouth is wider Than any other sort) Prefers the waters of the Nile To any of a stronger style. The Rabbit knows no "private bar," The Pelican will wander Through arid plains of Kandahar, Nor ever pause to ponder Whether in that infernal clime The clocks converge to "closing time." True "bona-fide traveller" Urging no sophist plea, How terrible must seem to her Man's inebriety; She who in thirsty moments places Her simple trust in green oases. With what calm scorn the Unicorn, In his remote retreat, Must contemplate the fervour born Of old "Château Lafitte." Conceive the feelings of the Sphinx Confronted with Columbian drinks! And oh! if all this solemn truth Were dinned into its mind From earliest years, might not our youth Regenerate mankind, Aspire to climb the Heights, and dare To emulate the Belgian hare? <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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