Variations Sur Le Thème De Corelli

By Venus and Cupid and all the dear old heathen deities
Who are so remarkably convinient myths to take one's oath upon
I hope you will not compel me to consider you a fool
Beauvais! What an idea that is of yours - 'medicinal green!'
Think of melted emeralds instead
There beside you, you have the most marvelous cordial in all the world -
Drink, and you will find your sorrows transmuted - yourself transformed!
Even if no better result be obtained than escaping the chill you have incurred in this
Night's heavy drenching, that is surely enough!

Life without Absinthe! I can not imagine it!
For me it would be impossible!
I should hang, drown or shoot myself into infinitude,
Out of sheer rage at the continued cruelty and injustice of the world -
But with this divine nectar of Olympus I can defy misfortune and laugh at poverty
As though they were the merest bagatels

Come! - to your health, mon brave! Drink with me!