Poems (Dodd)/Fill high the Cup

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FILL HIGH THE CUP.
Fill high the cup, the cup with roses crowned!And bid the mantling wine flow freely round;Let wit and mirth the flying moments share,And the red nectar banish every care!
Drink of the gods! ambrosial dew! I sipThy honeyed sweetness with a longing lip;Thou art mine only comforter, to theeI fly from thought, from thought and memory.
But see, a shadow comes upon the glass;Like broken promises the bubbles pass;The glow and freshness of the hour depart,And the wine leaves me with a heavy heart.
Bring me my hoarded wealth, a precious store,And let me count the glittering treasure o'er,For which I toiled through many a weary day,And wore the brightness of my years away.
A mist is stealing o'er the diamond's light,The yellow gold grows leaden to my sight, ​The sapphire's lustre and the ruby's blaze,No more afford me pleasure as I gaze.
My thoughts are troubled and my cheek grows pale;I hear the widow's sigh the orphan's wail:Ill-gotten wealth! how worse than vain art thou,To smooth one furrow on the care-worn brow.
Where are my troops of friends whose ready wilesCould teach my lip to wear unwonted smiles?The fawning followers, and the gazing crowd,Who hailed my coming with their plaudits loud?
Alas! those faithless friends my presence shun,Their once full ranks are thinning one by one;I pass unheeded through the silent streets,No more mine ear the flatterer's music greets.
My day is o'er, my race is nearly run;Some other idol has their homage won:O, Fame and Friendship! brief must be your reign,With those whose deeds your sunbright garments stain.
Let the seared heart its vain complainings cease,The virtuous only can be blessed with peace;Then take my friends, my fortune, and my fame,And give me back my sinless days again.
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