Charles Mackay

Vintagers' Song to the Sun

Peerless orb of life and light,
Here beneath the cloudless blue,
Lo! we quaff the liquor bright,
And pray for rain and pleasant dew.
Here beneath thy ruddy beam,
To thee we drain the goblet deep,
Where the Rhine's broad waters stream,
And the grapes in clusters creep.

Sun, O sun, thy splendours pour
O'er the fruitful fields of earth,
And to her remotest shore
Give the jovial harvest birth.
O'er the land that yields the vine,
Let thy warmest radiance glow,
Ripened by those beams of thine,
Let the purple vintage flow.