Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By HenryPeterson

297 Rinaldo

BRING me a cup of good red wine

To drink before I die;

Though earthly joys I must resign,

I ’ll breathe no earthly sigh.

I ’ve lived a bold and robber life,

I ’ve had on earth my way,

For with the gun or with the knife,

I made mankind obey.

My mother’s name, my father’s race,

Though he was false, she true,

It matters not—they sleep in peace.

What more can I or you?

They sleep in peace, though swords flashed wild

Around my infant head,

And I was left an orphan child,

An outcast’s path to tread.

Men are but grapes upon the vine;

My vine was planted where

Nor hand did tend, nor warm sun shine,

And mildew filled the air.

I was a robber brave and bold.

I did not, in the mart,

Lie, cheat, and steal with purpose cold.

Mine was too frank a heart.

All men are robbers,—all who win,

And get more than their due;

Though solemn phrases veil the sin,

The thief’s eye glances through.

The world denied me gold and land,

And love which all men crave;

I took the first with strong right hand,

The last I left a slave.

And though the tiger ’s caged at length,—

Who made him such God knows,—

He can but fail who measures strength

Against a world of foes.

Then bring a cup of rich red wine

Before the bell tolls three,

For better men than I and mine

Have died upon the tree.