| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
| |
| 705. If |
| | | By William Dean Howells |
| |
| |
| YES, death is at the bottom of the cup, | |
| And every one that lives must drink it up; | |
| And yet between the sparkle at the top | |
| And the black lees where lurks that bitter drop, | |
| There swims enough good liquor, Heaven knows, | 5 |
| To ease our hearts of all their other woes. | |
| The bubbles rise in sunshine at the brim; | |
| That drop below is very far and dim; | |
| The quick fumes spread, and shape us such bright dreams | |
| That in the glad delirium it seems | 10 |
| As though by some deft sleight, if so we willed, | |
| That drop untasted might be somehow spilled. | |
| |
|
|
|
