EMILY DICKINSON (United States, 1830 - 1886)

WE - BEE AND I - LIVE BY THE QUAFFING

We - Bee and I - live by the quaffing -
'Tis'nt all Hock - with us -
Life has it's Ale -
But it's many a lay of the Dim Burgundy -
We chant - for cheer - when the Wines - fail -

Do we "get drunk"?
Ask the jolly Clovers!
Do we "beat" our "Wife"?
I - never wed -
Bee - pledges his - in minute flagons -
Dainty - as the trees - on her deft Head -

While runs the Rhine -
He and I - revel -
First - at the vat - and latest at the Vine -
Noon - our last Cup -
"Found dead" - "of Nectar" -
By a humming Coroner -
In a By-Thyme!