The Sparkling Bowl

Thou sparkling bowl! thou sparkling bowl!
Though lips of bards thy brim may press,
And eyes of beauty o'er thee roll,
And song and dance thy power confess,
I will not touch thee; for there clings
A scorpion to thy side, that stings!
Thou crystal glass! like Eden's tree,
Thy melted ruby tempts the eye,
And, as from that, there comes from thee
The voice, "Thou shalt not surely die."
I dare not lift thy liquid gem; —
A snake is twisted round thy stem!
Thou liquid fire! like that which glovv'd
On Mclita's surf-beaten shore,
Thou 'st been upon my guests bestow'd,
But thou shalt warm my house no more.
For, wheresoe'er thy radiance falls,
Forth, from thy heat, a viper crawls!
What, though of gold the goblet be,
Emboss' d with branches of the vine,
Beneath whose burnish'd leaves we see
Such clusters as pour'd out the wine?
Among those leaves an adder hangs!
I fear him; — for I 've felt his fangs.
The Hebrew, who the desert trod,
And fell the fiery serpent's bite,
Look'd up to that ordain'd of God,
And found that life was in the sight.
So, the toor/Ti-bitten's fiery veins
Cool, when he drinks what God ordains.
Ye gracious clouds! ,ye deep, cold wells!
Ye gems, from mossy rocks that drip!
Springs, that from earth's mysterious cells
Gush o'er your granite basin's lip!
To you I look; — your largess give,
And I will drink of you, and live.