Shall e'er cold water be forgot, <br />When we sit down to dine? <br />O no, my friends, for is it not <br />Pour'd out by hands divine? <br />Pour'd out by hands divine, my friends, <br />Pour'd out by hands divine; <br />From springs and wells it gushes forth, <br />Pour'd out by hands divine. <br /> <br /> <br />To Beauty's cheek, tho' strange it seems, <br />'Tis not more strange than true, <br />Cold Water, though itself so pale <br />Imparts the rosiest hue; <br />Imparts the rosiest hue, my friends, <br />Imparts the rosiest hue, <br />Yes, Beauty, in a water-pail <br />Doth find her rosiest hue. <br /> <br /> <br />Cold water too, (tho' wonderful, <br />'Tis not less true, again)- <br />The weakest of all earthly drinks, <br />Doth make the strongest men:- <br />Doth make the strongest men, my friends, <br />Doth make the strongest men; <br />Then let us take that weakest drink <br />And grow the strongest men. <br /> <br /> <br />I've seen the bells of tulips turn, <br />To drink the drops that fell <br />From summer clouds;-then why should not <br />The two lips of a belle? <br />The two lips of a belle, my friends, <br />The two lips of a belle? <br />What sweetens more than water pure <br />The two lips of a belle? <br /> <br /> <br />The sturdy oak full many a cup <br />Doth hold up to the sky, <br />To catch the rain; then drinks it up, <br />And thus the oak gets high; <br />'Tis thus the oak gets high, my friends, <br />'Tis thus the oak gets high; <br />By having water in its cups, <br />Then why not you and I? <br /> <br /> <br />Then let cold water armies give <br />Their banners to the air; <br />So shall the boys like oaks be strong, <br />The girls like tulips fair; <br />The girls like tulips fair, my friends, <br />The girls like tulips fair; <br />The boys shall grow like sturdy oaks, <br />The girls like tulips fair.<br /><br />John Pierpont<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/song-for-a-cold-water-army/
