The poem
I have no brief for gambling, nay The notion I express That money earned 's the only way To pay for happiness. With cards and dice I do not hold; By betting I've been bit: Conclusion: to get honest gold You've got to sweat for it.
Though there be evil in strong drink It's brought me heaps of fun; And now, with some reserve, I think My toping days are done. Though at teetotal cranks I laugh, Yet being sound and hale, I find the best of drinks to quaff Is good old Adam's ale.
I do not like your moralist, Who with a righteous grin Informs you o'er a pounding fist: "Unchastity is sin." I don't believe it, but I grant, By every human test, From parson, pimp and maiden aunt, Morality is best.
Yet what a bore our lives would be If we lived as we should; It's such a blessing to be free, And not be over-good. I value virtues great and small, As I in life advance: But O the greatest sin of all I count--INTOLERANCE.