Poems - Drinking
‘Pardon me for not getting up’ by Kelly Roper
Oh dear, if you're reading this right now,
I must have given up the ghost.
I hope you can forgive me for being
Such a stiff and unwelcoming host.
Just talk amongst yourself my friends,
And share a toast or two.
For I am sure you will remember well
How I loved to drink with you.
Don't worry about mourning me,
I was never easy to offend.
Feel free to share a story at my expense
And we'll have a good laugh at the end.
The Beer Prayer -
Our lager, which art in barrels,
Hallowed be thy drink,
I will be drunk
At home as I am in the tavern.
Give us this day our foamy head,
And forgive us our spillages,
As we forgive those who spill against us,
And lead us not to incarceration,
But deliver us from hangovers,
For thine is the beer,
The bitter and the lager,
Forever and ever,
Barmen.
‘Strong Ale’ by Robert Graves
“Tell us, now, how and when
We may find the bravest men?”
“A sure test, an easy test:
Those that drink beer are the best,
Brown beer strongly brewed,
English drink and English food.”
Oh, never choose as Gideon chose
By the cold well, but rather those
Who look on beer when it is brown,
Smack their lips and gulp it down.
Leave the lads who tamely drink
With Gideon by the water brink,
But search the benches of the Plough,
The Tun, the Sun, the Spotted Cow,
For jolly rascal lads who pray,
Pewter in hand, at close of day,
“Teach me to live that I may fear
The grave as little as my beer.”
‘The Workmans Friend’ by Flann O'Brien
When things go wrong and will not come right
Though you do the best you can
When life looks black as the hour of night
A pint of plain is your only man
When money's tight and hard to get
And your horse has also ran
When all you have is a heap of debt
A pint of plain is your only man
When health is bad and your heart feels strange
And your face is pale and wan
When doctors say you need a change
A pint of plain is your only man
When food is scarce and your larder bare
And no rashers grease your pan
When hunger grows as your meals are rare
A pint of plain is your only man
In time of trouble and lousey strife
You have still got a darling plan
You still can turn to a brighter life
A pint of plain is your only man
‘The Parting Glass’
- traditional Scottish song (Nice musical version is by ‘The Wailin' Jennys’)
Of all the money that ever I had
I have spent it in good company
Oh and all the harm I’ve ever done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I’ve done for want of wit
To memory now I can’t recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be to you all
So fill to me the parting glass
And drink a health whatever befalls
Then gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all
Of all the comrades that ever I had
They’re sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that ever I had
They would wish me one more day to stay
But since it fell into my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I’ll gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all
So fill to me the parting glass
And drink a health whate’er befalls
Then gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all
But since it fell into my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I’ll gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all
So fill to me the parting glass
And drink a health whatever befalls
Then gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all
Good night and joy be to you all