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- 1816
- LINES ON THE MERMAID TAVERN
- by John Keats
-
- Souls of Poets dead and gone,
- What Elysium have ye known,
- Happy field or mossy cavern,
- Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?
- Have ye tippled drink more fine
- Than mine host's Canary wine?
- Or are fruits of Paradise
- Sweeter than those dainty pies
- Of venison? O generous food!
- Drest as though bold Robin Hood
- Would, with his maid Marian,
- Sup and bowse from horn and can.
-
- I have heard that on a day
- Mine host's sign-board flew away,
- Nobody knew whither, till
- An astrologer's old quill
- To a sheepskin gave the story,
- Said he saw you in your glory,
- Underneath a new old sign
- Sipping beverage divine,
- And pledging with contented smack
- The Mermaid in the Zodiac.
-
- Souls of Poets dead and gone,
- What Elysium have ye known,
- Happy field or mossy cavern,
- Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?
-
-
- THE END
-