Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CONCERNING I AND NON-I by JOHN STUART BLACKIE

First Line: NOW BRIM YOUR GLASS AND PLANT IT WELL
Last Line: OF ME AND THE WINE IN MY VEINS!
Subject(s): DRINKS & DRINKING; WINE;
Now brim your glass and plant it well
Beneath your nose on the table,
And you will find what philosophers tell
Of I and non-I is no fable.
Now listen to wisdom, my son!
Myself am the subject,
This wine is the object;
These things are two;
But I'll prove to you
That subject and object are one.

I take this glass in my hand, and stand
Upon my legs, if I can,
And look and smile, benign and bland,
And feel that I am a man.
Now stretch all the strength of your brains!
I drink—and the object
Is lost in the subject;
Making one entity
In the identity
Of me and the wine in my veins!



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