For then I could render the pleasure I win from the sight of your face; For then I could utter my treasure Of homage and thanks for your grace; I could dower, illumine, and gladden, Could rescue from perils and tears, And my speech could vibrate and madden With eloquence worthy your ears. You meet me: you smile and speak kindly; One minute I marvel and gaze, Idolatrous, worshipping blindly, Yet mindful of decorous ways. You pass; and the glory is ended, Though lustres and sconces may glow: The goddess who made the scene splendid Has vanished; and darkly I go. You know not how swiftly you mounted The throne in the depths of my eyes; You care not how meekly I counted Those moments for pearls of the skies; Or, knowing it, all is forgotten The moment I pass from your sight-- Consigned to the fancies begotten Of chaos and slumber and night. But I--I remember your glances, Your carelessest gesture and word, And out of them fashion romances Man never yet uttered nor heard; Romances too splendid for mortals, Too sweet for a planet of dole; Romances which open the portals Of Eden, and welcome my soul. J. W. DEFOREST. BEER. Poets, in every age since the time of Anacreon, have sung odes in praise of wine. The greatest bards of every clime have sought inspiration in its sparkling depths. But the poet, even German, is yet unborn, who, moved by sweet memories of the nectar of his fatherland, shall chant in rhyme the virtues of his national drink. Yet though its merit has inspired neither of the sister graces, poetry and song, to strike the lyre in its honor, it has had, none the less, an important mission to perform. To its plebeian sister beer, as a healthful beverage, wine must yield the palm. As a common drink, suited to human nature's daily need, it has never been surpassed. If it has nerved no hand to deeds of daring, or struck the scintillating sparks of genius from the human brain, it has added immensely to the health, long life, and happiness of many nations, and is destined to still greater triumphs, as life becomes studied more from a hygienic standpoint. Beer is believed to have been invented by the Egyptians, and is of almost universal use; the zone of the cereals being more extended than that of the grape. Greek writers before Christ mention a drink composed of barley, under the name of _zythos_. This beverage was not unknown to the Romans, and we find it first mentioned by the historian Tacitus. By the nations of the West it was regarded as a nourishing drink for poor people. They prepared it from honey and wheat. Among the ancient Germans and Scandinavians, however, beer was in former times the national beverage, and was prepared from barley, wheat, or oats, with the addition of oak bark, and later of hops.