COME, heap the fagots! Ere we go <br />Again the cheerful hearth shall glow; <br />We 'll have another blaze, my boys! <br />When clouds are black and snows are white, <br />Then Christmas logs lend ruddy light <br />They stole from summer days, my boys, <br />They stole from summer days. <br /> <br />And let the Loving-Cup go round, <br />The Cup with blessed memories crowned, <br />That flows whene'er we meet, my boys; <br />No draught will hold a drop of sin <br />If love is only well stirred in <br />To keep it sound and sweet, my boys, <br />To keep it sound and sweet. <br /> <br />Give me, to pin upon my breast, <br />The blossoms twain I love the best, <br />A rosebud and a pink, my boys; <br />Their leaves shall nestle next my heart, <br />Their perfumed breath shall own its part <br />In every health we drink, my boys, <br />In every health we drink. <br /> <br />The breathing blossoms stir my blood, <br />Methinks I see the lilacs bud <br />And hear the bluebirds sing, my boys; <br />Why not? Yon lusty oak has seen <br />Full tenscore years, yet leaflets green <br />Peep out with every spring, my boys, <br />Peep out with every spring. <br /> <br />Old Time his rusty scythe may whet, <br />The unmowed grass is glowing yet <br />Beneath the sheltering snow, my boys; <br />And if the crazy dotard ask, <br />Is love worn out? Is life a task? <br />We'll bravely answer No! my boys, <br />We 'll bravely answer No! <br /> <br />For life's bright taper is the same <br />Love tipped of old with rosy flame <br />That heaven's own altar lent, my boys, <br />To glow in every cup we fill <br />Till lips are mute and hearts are still, <br />Till life and love are spent, my boys, <br />Till life and love are spent.<br /><br />Oliver Wendell Holmes<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-loving-cup-song/
