LINES
ON THE MERMAID TAVERN.
Souls
of Poets dead and gone,
What Elysium
have ye known,
Happy
field or mossy cavern,
Choicer
than the Mermaid Tavern?
Have
ye tippled drink more fine
Than
mine host's Canary wine?
Or are
fruits of Paradise
Sweeter
than those dainty pies
Of
venison? O generous food!
Drest
as though bold Robin Hood
Would,
with his maid Marian,
Sup
and bowse from horn and can.
I have
heard that on a day
Mine
host's sign-board flew away,
Nobody
knew whither, till
An
astrologer's old quill
To a
sheepskin gave the story,
Said
he saw you in your glory,
Underneath
a new old-sign
Sipping
beverage divine,
And
pledging with contented smack
The
Mermaid in the Zodiac.
Souls
of Poets dead and gone,
What
Elysium have ye known,
Happy
field or mossy cavern,
Choicer
than the Mermaid Tavern?
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