POMONA'S GIFTS.
37
Would "Prohibition's" strict decree
Forbid that one delicious draught,
The nectar that our fathers quaffed,
Our lips should moisten—just to see,
In its bouquet and purity,
Its honest maker's guaranty?
Forbid that one delicious draught,
The nectar that our fathers quaffed,
Our lips should moisten—just to see,
In its bouquet and purity,
Its honest maker's guaranty?
Pomona! goddess said to be
To whom the pagan tribes of old,
At altar shrines adorned with gold,
With bodies prone or bended knee,
Confessed thy generosity,
And orisons poured out as free!
To whom the pagan tribes of old,
At altar shrines adorned with gold,
With bodies prone or bended knee,
Confessed thy generosity,
And orisons poured out as free!
Is it thy hand, subordinate
To an unchanging, loving will,
That lavishly such wealth doth spill
Of fruitage ripe in autumn late,
Beyond the city's outer gate,
Whore lanes and highways deviate?
To an unchanging, loving will,
That lavishly such wealth doth spill
Of fruitage ripe in autumn late,
Beyond the city's outer gate,
Whore lanes and highways deviate?
Ah, no; for heathen evermore
Imagine vain and foolish things—
As beings strange with airy wings
In fair Elysium that soar
And hold their sway o'er sea and shore—
The deities of mythic lore.
Imagine vain and foolish things—
As beings strange with airy wings
In fair Elysium that soar
And hold their sway o'er sea and shore—
The deities of mythic lore.
