1. To a tavern-keeper at night I came,
Bearing garments that long exile wore;

2. He peered and stared as one in stupor lost,
Like wine-befogged remembering days of yore;

3. "Pray tell me how thou cam'st to invade
My house," he said, "when night's star glittered frore?"

4. I said: "Be mild! the morn I did but see
Break through thy mansion's every crannied door."

5. "Morn!" quoth he, "no such morn I ever knew;
Only the wine-house lamp's uncurtained glow."

6. Then to the wine-jar he made his way,
Sealed fast his lips, till night resumed its sway.

7. Whereat his ringlets in the cup's abyss
Plunged slowly, clinging to its figured sides,

8. As at the margins crept the gurgling wine,
Where Kisras unto sculptured conquest rides.

9. O'er Kisra's legions tramples he, but still
Beneath his horse-hoofs crouch the prostrate ranks: