Classic Poem

Where gay Falernum lifts its sunny brow
O'er wide Campania's sea of bending corn,
I rose and shook my tendrils to the gale,
And glowed with living purple and gold.
How rich, to see the teeming clusters
Droop beneath their nectared load,
To inhale the airs of fragrance,
As the wanton wind
Loaded his wings with dewy sweetness, culled
The choicest perfumes that I shed,
And, whispering o'er the banks
Of blossoms, gave them richer sweets!
Fluttering zephyrs hovered round me,
Kissed my purple, frosted coat,
And tinged their lips with honey. Dews
Wet my clusters, till themselves
Imbibed my sweets, and then exhaled
In fragrant mist away.
Pressed, and refined by time, I stand
Within the crystal goblet, while a light
Of purest amber floats around and sheds a mellow beam,
As if a cloud of clustering roses
Crossed the sun and crimsoned all the earth.