On Dedicating A New Teapot

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Title:     On Dedicating A New Teapot
Author: Christopher Morley [More Titles by Morley]

Boiling water now is poured,
Pouches filled with fresh tobacco,
Round the hospitable board
Fragrant steams Ceylon or Pekoe.

Bread and butter is cut thin,
Cream and sugar, yes, bring them on;
Ginger cookies in their tin,
And the dainty slice of lemon.

Let the marmalade be brought,
Buns of cinnamon adhesive;
And, to catch the leaves, you ought
To be sure to have the tea-sieve.

But, before the cups be filled--
Cups that cause no ebriation--
Let a genial wish be willed
Just by way of dedication.

Here's your fortune, gentle pot:
To our thirst you offer slakeage;
Bright blue china, may I not
Hope no maid will cause you breakage.

Kindest ministrant to man,
Long be jocund years before you,
And no meaner fortune than
Helen's gracious hand to pour you!

[The end]
Christophe Morley's poem: On Dedicating A New Teapot

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