STRAIGHT from the tavern door
I am come here;
Old road, how odd to me
Thou dost appear!
Right and left changing sides,
Rising and sunk;
Oh, I can plainly see
Road, thou art drunk!
Oh, what a twisted face
Thou hast, oh, moon!
One eye shut, t’other eye
Wide as a spoon.
Who could have dreamed of this?
Shame on thee, shame!
Thou hast been fuddling,
Jolly old dame!
Look at the lamps again;
See how they reel!
Nodding and flickering
Round as they wheel.
Not one among them all
Steady can go;
Look at the drunken lamps,
All in a row.
162
All in an uproar seem
Great things and small;
I am the only one
Sober at all.
But there’s no safety here
For other men;
So I’ll turn back to
The tavern again.