Come, Honest Boys

The Kingfisher written by William Henry Davies

From "Farewell to Poesy", 1910

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Ye who have nothing to conceal,
  Come, honest boys, and drink with me;
Come, drink with me the sparkling ale,
  And we'll not whisper calumny,
But laugh with all the power we can;
  But all pale schemers who incline
To rise above your fellow man,
  Touch not the sparkling ale or wine.

Give me strong ale to fire my blood,
  Content me with a lot that's bad;
That is to me both drink and food,
  And warms me though I am ill-clad;
A pot of ale, man owns the world:
  The poet hears his songs all sung,
Inventor sees his patents sold,
  The painter sees his pictures hung.

The creeds remind us oft of Death;
  But man's best creed is to forget
Death all the hours that he takes breath,
  And quaff the sparkling ale, and let
Creeds shout until they burst their lungs;
  For what is better than to be
A-drinking ale and singing songs,
  In summer, under some green tree?

This work is in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.