A Credo (after the German)

FOR the sole edification

Of this decent congregation,

Goodly people, by your grant

I will sing a holy chant --

   I will sing a holy chant.

If the ditty sound but oddly,

'Twas a father, wise and godly,

   Sang it so long ago --

Then sing as Martin Luther sang,

As Doctor Martin Luther sang:

"Who loves not wine, woman and song,

He is a fool his whole life long!"

He, by custom patriarchal,

Loved to see the beaker sparkle;

And he thought the wine improved,

Tasted by the lips he loved --

   But the kindly lips he loved.

Friends, I wish this custom pious

Duly were observed by us,

   To combine love, song, wine,

And sing as Martin Luther sang,

As Doctor Martin Luther sang:

"Who loves not wine, woman, and song,

He is a fool his whole life long!"

William Makepeace Thackeray

Index to poems in the collection by William Makepeace Thackeray