Poem by Charles Mackay

German Drinking Song

Strew roses on the way,
And think no more of grief,
Short is the passing day,
Short-lived the summer leaf;
Short is our mortal span
Then, ere the minutes die,
'Tis Wisdom's wisest plan
To gild them as they fly:
The present only is our own,
The future dark, and all unknown.

Then, O give Grief and Care,
O give them to the blast,
And make the present fair
And brighter than the past!
And make the glasses ring,
As ye quaff the cheering wine,
And a merry chorus sing,
Beneath the clustering vine.
Sorrow will sink, where Joy will swim;
Then fill the bicker to the brim.

When underneath the stone
We sleep the final sleep,
We'll hear no more the tone
Of music's wildest sweep;
Nor hear the wine-cups meet
With tinkling sound of glee,
Nor the merry chorus sweet
Under the linden-tree:
Then let us, in the hope of Heaven,
Enjoy on earth what God has given!

1. Kilravock Tower
2. The Floating Straw
3. Thoughts
4. The Drop of Ambrosia
5. Lorenzo Pines in Dungeon Gloom

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