The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1877-02-24
(originaL)
To a Company of BacehanaIs.


"A wAssaH the Ger flowing bowl,
OF baluly wine he sever'd from the Hpsl
Let sober Joy, which sways the temp'rate soul
And cen from some drops Of comfort sips,
Like scraphic form unfold its wings
And hover round, while q religions call,
,, OF those on whom misforiune's burdens fall,
MY muse with melancholy cadence sings"
How soothing Is the silence that succeeds
To noisy reyeIry and Bacehic mIrth
Once more calm reasons reigns, nor bIindly heeds
The phantoms underlined 10 which gives birth
A wild imagination fired by wine
Thus, after times Of clouds and and show'rs
The mead, euameIrd with its gayest how'rs
Again is radiant with the bright sunshine
Hashd Is the orgy Of the Iipsy fools
Fer, mid the turmoil Of the banquet-haII
The sober Poets icy accent cools
The yinous fumes which fire the blood Of all
Who riot in the Bacchanaan throng
The startled guests their drunken mirth forego,
And hearken to the tale OF human
Which forms the theme OF his pathetic song
axe Tolaries of pleasure mediate,
As, 10 enloyment's instincts you give place.
How wretehed and unhappy is the fate,
OF such taste misfortune and disgrace.
Zen a. the maddnIng cup Of wine you qusf.
With fev'risb thirst your fellow being lies
Tomented; perchancc Of hunger dies,
While rings the festive board with your wild laugh
" la yon hAIfrulnous and lonesome hut
Is stretchd upon a bed Of
An aged man. whose life has been the butt
OF adverse fortune, dying an outlaw,
Far from mis- bOyhoOd's home and early friends,
Without gentle hand his brow smooth,
Or one kind voice his agony to sOothe,
His weary pilgrimage In squalor ends
That palIid girl, who in a garrett sits
And plies her neede-as q work of love
While hows the chill blast capFcious fits
Thro' crannies OF the broken roof above
All the day long and deep into the night
Tolls to provide with bread, from year to year,
widow'd mother, orphan brothe rs dear,
And sisters-heedess Of consumpton's bIght
a. This hospiIaIfor paupers a ward
Where fever-stricken patients received
There lies a wreched mortaI-once the lord
OF vide dofnains-now poor-and cen bereaved
OF health and senses-whIle with smother'd means
And stied sobs Of grief deep than loud,
His fAmishd wife and children round him crowd
Aghsst at his deIirious, dying groans!
e YOnder asylum for the mad contains
A cell. wherein Is tied upon q bed
A furious maniac with iron chains,
Which have strength to bind him lest his head
He dash against the wall with frantic shouts
lie writhes, till bursts vessel in his heart
From mouth nOse eyes4nd red torrents start,
And nOor, walls, roof stain'd with bloody gouts
' What nOats upon yOu river deep and wide
IL is the body of a woman drOwnd-
SIN young and beauous-now in suicide.
On her the world, relentless may have frownd;
With fraty charged her-haply without grounds
Or, fallen, forgiving hand stretch'd forth
To aid her 70 regain her pristine worth
scorna spurn'd dstraught, into the flood she bounds
" Lo is not that the fearful gaows-tree'
Suspended by the neck n human form
Systematically sgonzed see.
The quiv'rinaszzA with vital glow still warm;
Out Of their sockets bursting, the eye-baIIs |
Are hideousIy sgare the bIacken'd tongue
PrOtrudiDs from the gaping mouth is hung;
From ev'ry pore the sweat in big drops falls -
"a Cease for the sake of poor Humanity,
No LIES horrors paint with frightfu brush :"
The ierror-strieken guests, now SOBER cry,
As from the reeking banquet-hsll they rush
For from wassaI happy to escapei
smile fits DER the Poets pensive face,
And to the God Of temperance giving grace,
To other scenes he turns his course to shape!
81 END.