The Wine Cup | AdventAI

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Sep 19, 1878

The Wine Cup.

NEVER taste it again, tho' the crimson and gold In the cream on the wine cup with charm never told May dazzle the eye with the promise of bliss; 'Tis a cheat, 'tis a demon; in mockery 'twill hiss And sting like a serpent, and poison all good, E'en the hope of young manhood, who nobly has stood In the battle of life and the battles of war Victorious in strife, decked with laurels all o'er— The pride of his home, the pride of the race; Ambitious of honors, ambitious of place; No fears for the future, no clouds overcast, So sure in safe harbor to anchor at last. If he turn to the wine cup, tho' never so bright May sparkle the foam in the red liquid light, Yet lurking within is the vampire of hate, Stinging deep with regret, yet whispering too late— Too late to retrieve the dark deeds of sin, Yet deeper, still deeper, on the poor soul within Are forging the chains that rankle and burn To make the poor victim a thing he would spurn, Till he finds, ah! too late, in fetters, in chains, Handcuffed and manacled, powerless to claim The right to his manhood, the right to his will, While this demon, the wine cup, is crying, "Fill! fill!" Oh! taste not again, while the thousands and more Creep slowly along to that dark, silent shore Where kindly, oh! kindly concealed from our sight, The scars burned so deep in the soul with this blight, The blight of the wine cup, all sweet tho' it be, From the bitterest dregs it can never be free. Then turn from the sparkle and turn from the bowl, And over your manhood and over your soul Let the angel of reason, the angel of good, Stand guard at your life gate, as surely they would If hopeful and trustful you turn e're too late And slay in your manhood this vampire of hate. Then arise in your strength and bury from sight This demon of wrong—America's blight. —Sel.