We are younger in years! Yes, that is true; <br />But in some things we are older than you. <br />For instance, you sometimes say with a smile, <br />'It will do to drink wine once in a while.' <br />We say, 'It will not do at all!' <br />Wine is an imp of old Alcohol. <br />So are gin and beer, and cider, too. <br />If you drink up them, they will eat up you. <br /> <br /> <br />'Cider is not a strong drink,' you say. <br />Ah! but, my friend, it opens the way <br />For brandy and whiskey to follow fast. <br />It has done it many a time in the past. <br />It tempts and teases the appetite. <br />Let it alone, boys, keep to the right; <br />Onward and upward we mean to go. <br />Heaven is reached that way, you know. <br /> <br /> <br />People who drink are behind the time. <br />They are back with darkness, and woe, and crime. <br />This age is progressive. You people who drink, <br />Though ever so little, just pause and think- <br />Think of the anguish that liquor makes; <br />Think of the hearts that it burdens and breaks. <br />Let it alone: stop drinking to-day- <br />This is what we, the children, say.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/older-than-you/
