Finds mirth and joy in Jamshid-bowl;
toys with the Daughter of the vine;
And bids the beauteous cup-boy say,
"Master I bring thee ruby wine!"*

* That all the senses, even the ear, may enjoy.

Sips from the maiden's lips the dew;
brushes the bloom from virgin brow:--
Such is his fleshly bliss that strives
the Maker through the Made to know.

I've tried them all, I find them all
so same and tame, so drear, so dry;
My gorge ariseth at the thought;
I commune with myself and cry:--

Better the myriad toils and pains
that make the man to manhood true,
This be the rule that guideth life;
these be the laws for me and you:

With Ignor'ance wage eternal war,
to know thy self forever strain,
Thine ignorance of thine ignorance is
thy fiercest foe, thy deadliest bane;

That blunts thy sense, and dulls thy taste;
that deafs thine ears, and blinds thine eyes;