Sunday Up the River

An Idyll of Cockaigne

Original Text

Fraser's Magazine (1865). AP 4 F8 Robarts Library

1.1Give a man a horse he can ride,

1.2 Give a man a boat he can sail;

1.3And his rank and wealth, his strength and health,

1.4 On sea nor shore shall fail.

1.5Give a man a pipe he can smoke,

1.6 Give a man a book he can read;

1.7And his home is bright with a calm delight,

1.8 Though the room be poor indeed.

1.9Give a man a girl he can love,

1.10 As I, O my Love, love thee;

1.11And his heart is great with the pulse of Fate,

1.12 At home, on land, on sea.

2.1The wine of Love is music,

2.2 And the feast of Love is song:

2.3And when Love sits down to the banquet,

2.4 Love sits long:

2.5Sits long and ariseth drunken,

2.6 But not with the feast and the wine;

2.7He reeleth with his own heart,

2.8 That great rich Vine.

Publication Start Year

1874

RPO poem Editors

J. D. Robins

RPO Edition

2RP.2.598; RPO 1996-2000.

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