“Swore Off.”

This piece won the class medal at the Ninth Annual Commencement of the Mt. Vernon Institute of Elocution and Languages, 1892.

Sit on chair at right side of a common table.

Boys, take another![1409] To-night we’ll be gay,
For to-morrow, you know, is the New Year’s Day,
And I promised my Bessie to-night should be
The very last night I stayed on this spree.
I’ve been a good fellow—spent lots of “tin”
In sampling and drinking both whiskey and gin;
And yet I remember,[1410] a long while ago,
When the sight of a drunken man frightened me so.
I ran for a square.[1411] I remember quite well
When I even detested[1412] the very smell
Of the accursed stuff. I sometimes think
’Twas the devil[1413] who tempted me to take the first drink.
But why look back with remorse or regret?
I mustn’t remember[1414]—I want to forget.
[1415]Landlord, the bottle![1416] That’s pretty good stuff;
Though I reckon I’ve seen and tasted enough.
It’s a year since I’ve drawn a sober breath.
The doctors all say I will go to my death
If I do not leave off—you may laugh and scoff;
But somehow or other, between me and you,
I believe what the doctors tell me is true,
For at night when I try to be closing my eyes,
Such horrible visions[1417] before me arise
That I cannot rest, and I walk[1418] the floor
And long for the sleep that is mine no more.
To-night it winds up. Laugh on,[1419] but you’ll see[1420]
That this is the very last night of my spree.
I’ve promised my Bessie, and further, I swore—
She’s got the paper—to taste it no more
After to-night. When I told her I’d sign,
The look on her face made me think of the time
When she stood at the altar,[1421] a beautiful bride,
And I looked on my choice with a good deal of pride.
Ah! many’s the time since I’ve been on this spree,
I’ve seen this good woman get down[1422] on her knee
And ask God, in His goodness, have mercy on me.
To-night it ends up. Do you hear[1423] what I say?—
I’m a man[1424] once again from the New Year’s Day.
Take one with you? Why, I certainly will—[1425]
To-night is my last, and I’ll be drinking my fill.
“Good luck and good health!”—[1426] strange wishes to make
O’er each glass of whiskey and gin that we take.
Good luck! Well, now, fellows, be still,[1427] and we’ll see
The good luck I’ve had since I started this spree.
What with losing the job where I first learned my trade—
I’ve had twenty since, and I’m much afraid
The reason for losing them all is this glass.[1428]
The story of shame and disgrace let us pass;[1429]
I’ll sum up the whole. You all know[1430] it’s true
I could own a nice home—now the rent’s overdue,
Yet, during this time—it is true,[1431] what I say—
I wished myself luck at least ten times a day,
And as for good health! Now, do you think it right,[1432]
When you know it’s destroying your appetite,
To call it good health? Why, I’ve not tasted food
For days at a time. Do you call my health good?
One with the landlord?[1433] To be sure, ev’ry time—
His till has held many a dollar of mine.
Come! set up the poison! To-night is the last—
Then I’ll look upon rum as a thing of the past[1434]
Well, here’s to you,[1435] land— Ah! you’d play me a trick![1436]
Take off[1437] that red wig with the horns very quick,
Or I’ll put down this glass and be leaving the place.
Boys, look[1438] at the way he’s distorting his face!
Look![1439] look![1440] it’s the devil—a good masquerade[1441]
For those who engage in the rum-selling trade.
Go on[1442] with the game!—you’ll find I’m not afraid—
Ha, ha, ha, ha! at your by-play I scoff—
Whose blood-hound is this?[1443] Keep him off![1444] Keep him off![1445]
Get out,[1446] you big brute! Don’t you fellows see[1447]
He’s wicked? Will bite? That he’s snapping at me?
My God![1448] see his fangs! all reeking with gore—
[1449]Help! landlord, help! fell[1450] this brute to the floor.
Ah! he’s gone! Take another![1451] my nerves are unstrung,
Quick! Give me the bottle[1452] ere the midnight is rung,
[1453]Ah! whiskey’s[1454] the stuff that will make me feel gay,
And I’ve said I’ve sworn off from the New Year’s Day—
Quick! give me the bottle! Curse you![1455] don’t refuse,
Or I’ll pull you apart,[1456] if my temper I lose—
Now give me a glass! Come, boys, take a drink![1457]
It’s the last you’ll be taking with me, so I think—
O God! what is this?[1458] See, boys—it’s a snake!
Look! the bottle is full—hear the hissing they make—
They crawl[1459] from its neck. For God’s sake, a drink!
Thanks! Boys, here’s luck![1460]
(Midnight hour strikes.)
’Tis the New Year, I think.
My oath[1461]—yes my oath! Is this sound I hear[1462]
The hour of midnight? Aye, it is the New Year.
(Throws glass from him.)
Begone from my sight, thou demon of hell!
Boys, here they come![1463] there they go! Ah, the spell
Is o’er. I’m afire![1464] See! It shoots[1465] from my eyes!
I am burning within![1466] There[1467] the red demon lies.
What angel is this?[1468] ’Tis my Bessie to see
If my word has been kept about ending this spree—
No, no, it is black![1469] ’Tis the devil’s device—
He’s claiming a soul as a sacrifice.
Great God! Is this death?[1470] The blood-hound again!
Take him off![1471] Take him off![1472] Do I call you in vain?
He clutches my throat[1473]—he chokes out my life![1474]
Won’t some of you fellows go after my wife?
Must I die here alone? See! they beckon to me.
Oh! if Bessie, my heart-broken wife, could but see
That I kept my word. Won’t—you—kindly—say
I “swore off” for good on the New Year’s Day.[1475]
—J. N. Fort.

Gestures.