| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910. | | | | The Excellency of Wine | | By Roger Boyle, Earl of Orrery (1621–1679) |
| | | ’TIS 1 wine that inspires, | |
| And quencheth Love’s fires; | |
| Teaches fools how to rule a state. | |
| Maids ne’er did approve it; | |
| Because those that love it, | 5 |
| Despise, and laugh at, their hate. | |
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| The drinkers of beer | |
| Did ne’er yet appear | |
| In matters of any weight; | |
| ’Tis he whose design | 10 |
| Is quickened by wine, | |
| That raises things to their height. | |
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| We then should it prize; | |
| For never black eyes | |
| Made wounds, which this could not heal. | 15 |
| Who then doth refuse | |
| To drink of this juice, | |
| Is a foe to the common weal. | |
| | | Note 1. Appeared in Henry Lawes’ Ayres, I, 1653. [back] | | |
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