Another Question

(Better - or at least merrier - than the original!)

To drink, or not to drink: that is the question
Whether 'tis best to have a healthy liver
And clear kidneys like those of a newborn
Or to take pleasure in a vintage bottle
Of wine that boasts the colour of red velvet?
To drink, to sleep…
And recommence tomorrow, prolong the dream
A thousand precious moments of pure joy
With no remorse over an ulcered stomach
That sends you a reminder. To drink, to sleep
And dream sweet dreams of those divine creations
Like cognac, wine, or, by that matter, women
All that is teasing our ruffled senses to give us
Headache in the end and yet, without it
Its ephemeral charm our life would lose
And beauty that is nicest crumpl’d with passion.
A loving heart that suffers not is boring
It withers like an overwatered flower
Inhales a lethal overdose of comfort and sinks
Without a ripple on the surface
Of life. So fear, thou, not the headache
Or the ulcer. In any case, there is a price to pay
For everything. Yet does it mean that wisely
We should refrain from living? What a waste
This would have been indeed from any standpoint
The pangs of despised love, the whips of time
Are best endured with a glass of cognac
Without prejudice to calvados hors d’age
And other armagnacs, champagnes and aqua vitas
Be praised their inventors!
The ills we face and those we will encounter
Along the winding road among the vineyards
Will season our hearts (and our livers)
And thou who drinketh not, in thy orisons
Be all our sins remember'd
*)