1.Come tthe festal1 board tonight,For bright-eyed beauty will be there,Her coral lips in nectar steeped,And garlanded2 her hair.
2.Come tthe festal board to-night,For there the joyous laugh of youthWill ring those silvery peals,which speak Of bosom pure and stainless truth.
3.Come tthe festal board to-night,For friendship,there,with stronger chain,Devoted3 hearts already boundFor good or ill,will bind again.I went.
4.Nature and art their stores outpoured;Joy beamed in every kindling glance;Love,friendship,youth,and beauty smiled;What could that evening's bliss enhance4?We parted.1Festal,mirthful,joyous.2Garlanded,adorned with wreaths of flowers. 3Devoted,solemnly set apart.4 Enhance,increase.
5.And years have flown;but where are now The guests whround that table met?Rises their sun as gloriouslyAs on the banquet's eve it set?
6.How holds the chain which friendship wove?It broke;and soon the hearts it bound Were widely sundered1;and for peace,Envy and strife and blood were found.
7.The merriest laugh which then was heard Has changed its tones tmaniac screams,As half-quenched memory kindles up Glimmerings2 of guilt in feverish dreams.
8.And where is she whose diamond eyes Golconda's 3purest gems outshone? Whose roseate4 lips of Eden breathed?Say,where is she,the beauteous one?
9.Beneath yon willow's drooping shade,With eyes now dim,and lips all pale,She sleeps in peace. Read on her urn,"A broken heart." This tells her tale.
10.And where is he,that tower of strength,Whose fate with hers for life was joined?1Sundered,separated.2Glimmerings,faint views,glimpses.3Golconda,is an ancient city and fortress of India,formerly renowned for its diamonds. They were merely cut and polished there,however,being generally brought from Parteall,a city farther south.
4Roseate,blooming,rosy.How beats his heart,once honor's throne?How high has soared his daring mind?
11.Gtthe dungeon's gloom to-night;His wasted form,his aching head,And all that now remains of him,Lies,shuddering,on a felon's1 bed.
12.Ask you of all these woes the cause?The festal board,the enticing2 bowl,More often came,and reason fled,And maddened passions spurned3 control.
13.Learn wisdom,then. The frequent feast Avoid;for there,with stealthy treadTemptation walks,tlure4 you on,Till death,at last,the banquet spread.
14.And shun,oh shun,the enchanted 5cup!Though now its draught like joy appears,Ere long it will be fanned by sighs,And sadly mixed with blood and tears.1Felon,a public criminal.2Enticing,attracting tevil.3Spurned,rejected with disdain. 4 Lure,tattract,tentice.5 Enchanted,affected with enchantment,bewitched.