Saturday, July 16, 2005

Let's all (not) drink tap water... from 1870

A TEMPERANCE SONG.
Strained Verses Dedicated to Unstrained Water.
By A. FILTERER.


Bring a glass of sparkling water,
Fill the goblet to the brim,
Let the microscopic critters
Take in it a harmless swim.

Here are meat and drink united,
Life, indeed, in this we see;
Who'd exchange so rich a fluid
For the baser eau de vie?

Give us, then, no ale nor porter,
Logwood wine, nor other drugs;
But a glass of sparkling water
Filled with sportive little bugs.

from Punchinello 1870 vol. 1, number 4
courtesy Project Gutenberg
http://www.archive.org/details/8p104