Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 1.djvu/316

276 LINES INSCRIBED UPON A CUP FORMED FROM A SKULL.

1.

not—nor deem my spirit fled:

In me behold the only skull,

From which, unlike a living head,

Whatever flows is never dull.

2.

I lived, I loved, I quaff'd, like thee:

I died: let earth my bones resign;

Fill up—thou canst not injure me;

The worm hath fouler lips than thine.

3.

Better to hold the sparkling grape,

Than nurse the earth-worm's slimy brood;

And circle in the goblet's shape

The drink of Gods, than reptile's food.