Poem by Eugene Field

A Rhine-Land Drinking Song

If our own life is the life of a flower
    (And that's what some sages are thinking),
We should moisten the bud with a health-giving flood
      And 'twill bloom all the sweeter—
      Yes, life's the completer
    For drinking,
          and drinking,
                and drinking.

If it be that our life is a journey
    (As many wise folk are opining),
We should sprinkle the way with the rain while we may;
      Though dusty and dreary,
      'Tis made cool and cheery
    With wining,
          and wining,
                and wining.

If this life that we live be a dreaming
    (As pessimist people are thinking),
To induce pleasant dreams there is nothing, meseems,
      Like this sweet prescription,
      That baffles description—
    This drinking,
          and drinking,
                and drinking.

1. Mary Smith
2. Mother and Sphinx
3. My Playmates
4. A Piteous Plaint
5. A Paraphrase

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