To wine and beauty

Vulcan provide me such a cup, 
As Nestor used of old;
Try all your art to trim it up, 
And damask it round with gold.

Carve me thereon a curling vine,
A lovely girl and boy:
Their limbs in am'rous folds intwine,
The type of future joy.

Make it so large, when fill'd with Sack,
Up to the swelling brim,
That toasts in that delicious lake
Like ships at sea may swim.

Bacchus and Venus my guardians are,
Let wine and beauty reign!
With wine we'll drive away all care,
And then to love again.

Note: the "author" refers to the bowdlerizer.

Submitted by David K. Smythe

Authorship

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [an adaptation] [ author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

• a text in English by John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647 - 1680), "Upon his drinking a bowl", written 1673, first published 1680 FRE
• Go to the text.

• a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585) [text unavailable] FRE
• Go to the text.

• a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE), no title [text unavailable]
• Go to the text.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "To wine and beauty", op. 18 (Six songs) no. 1 (1913), published 1914 [voice and piano], London, Elkin [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Text added to the website: 2003-11-29.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:02:01
Line count: 16
Word count: 95

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