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Lines Inscribed Upon A Cup Formed From A Skull
Start not—nor deem my spirit fled:
In me behold the only skull
From which, unlike a living head,
Whatever flows is never dull.
I lived, I loved, I quaffed like thee;
I died: let earth my bones resign:
Fill up—thou canst not injure me;
The worm hath fouler lips than thine.
Better to hold the sparkling grape
Than nurse the earthworm`s slimy brood,
And circle in the goblet`s shape
The drink of gods than reptile`s food.
Where once my wit, perchance, hath shone,
In aid of others` let me shine;
And when, alas! our brains are gone,
What nobler substitute than wine?
Quaff while thou canst; another race,
When thou and thine like me are sped,
May rescue thee from earth`s embrace,
And rhyme and revel with the dead.
Why not—since through life`s little day
Our heads such sad effects produce?
Redeemed from worms and wasting clay,
This chance is theirs to be of use.
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