Let others quaff the ruby wine,
I'll drink from gushing springs,
Nor bow again at folly's shrine,
For misery it brings.
I'll seek no more the festal board,
I'll drink from gushing springs,
Nor bow again at folly's shrine,
For misery it brings.
I'll seek no more the festalboard,
Where the midnight taper gleams;
Nor mingle with the drunken horde,
But drink from mountain streams.
The Temperance Pledge, I'll hold it strong,
And bear the drunkard's jeers;
Nor sing the bacchanalian song,
But dry a young wife's tears.
I'll spurn the blind, besotted crowd,
I'll scorn the drunkard's sneers,
And Temperance I'll proclaim aloud,
And dry a mother's tears.
The limpid nectar I will quaff
From brooks, nor seek to roam
Where rings the reveller's drunken laugh,
But stay content at home.
I'll dash the poisoned chalice down,
And swell the Temperance train;
No more shall wine my senses drown,
I'll be a man again.