You were a vintage year, proud '44—
The grapes of Teheran—Paris and Rome—
The conquered ocean and the captured shore—
Robbers in rout, and half the harvest home.

A vintage year. The courage and the craft—
The toil, the terror—the Mulberries, the Rhine—
A teasing, generous, full-blooded draught!
The dregs were difficult. But what a wine!
December 31, 1944