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Mithridates

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Topics: classic

I cannot spare water or wine,     Tobacco-leaf, or poppy, or rose;     From the earth-poles to the Line,     All between that works or grows,     Every thing is kin of mine.     Give me agates for my meat;     Give me cantharids to eat;     From air and ocean bring me foods,     From all zones and altitudes;--     From all natures, sharp and slimy,     Salt and basalt, wild and tame:     Tree and lichen, ape, sea-lion,     Bird, and reptile, be my game.     Ivy for my fillet band;     Blinding dog-wood in my hand;     Hemlock for my sherbet cull me,     And the prussic juice to lull me;     Swing me in the upas boughs,     Vampyre-fanned, when I carouse.     Too long shut in strait and few,     Thinly dieted on dew,     I will use the world, and sift it,     To a thousand humors shift it,     As you spin a cherry.     O doleful ghosts, and goblins merry!     O all you virtues, methods, mights,     Means, appliances, delights,     Reputed wrongs and braggart rights,     Smug routine, and things allowed,     Minorities, things under cloud!     Hither! take me, use me, fill me,     Vein and artery, though ye kill me!

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"I cannot spare water or wine,..."

This evocative piece by Ralph Waldo Emerson, titled "Mithridates", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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Author:Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I cannot spare water or wine,..." by Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Ralph Waldo Emerson

About Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was an American essayist, philosopher, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement. His poems—including "Brahma," "The Rhodora," and "Concord Hymn"—explore nature, self-reliance, and the oversoul.

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"One musician is sure,     His wisdom will not fail..."

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