I. <br /> <br />For the sole edification <br />Of this decent congregation, <br />Goodly people, by your grant <br />I will sing a holy chant— <br />I will sing a holy chant. <br />If the ditty sound but oddly, <br />'Twas a father, wise and godly, <br />Sang it so long ago— <br />Then sing as Martin Luther sang, <br />As Doctor Martin Luther sang: <br />'Who loves not wine, woman and song, <br />He is a fool his whole life long!' <br /> <br />II. <br /> <br />He, by custom patriarchal, <br />Loved to see the beaker sparkle; <br />And he thought the wine improved, <br />Tasted by the lips he loved— <br />By the kindly lips he loved. <br />Friends, I wish this custom pious <br />Duly were observed by us, <br />To combine love, song, wine, <br />And sing as Martin Luther sang, <br />As Doctor Martin Luther sang: <br />'Who loves not wine, woman and song, <br />He is a fool his whole life long!' <br /> <br />III. <br /> <br />Who refuses this our Credo, <br />And who will not sing as we do, <br />Were he holy as John Knox, <br />I'd pronounce him heterodox! <br />I'd pronounce him heterodox, <br />And from out this congregation, <br />With a solemn commination, <br />Banish quick the heretic, <br />Who will not sing as Luther sang, <br />As Doctor Martin Luther sang: <br />'Who loves not wine, woman and song, <br />He is a fool his whole life long!'<br /><br />William Makepeace Thackeray<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-credo/
