Children of the Night

Cliff Klingenhagen

     Cliff Klingenhagen had me in to dine
     With him one day; and after soup and meat,
     And all the other things there were to eat,
     Cliff took two glasses and filled one with wine
     And one with wormwood.  Then, without a sign
     For me to choose at all, he took the draught
     Of bitterness himself, and lightly quaffed
     It off, and said the other one was mine.

     And when I asked him what the deuce he meant
     By doing that, he only looked at me
     And grinned, and said it was a way of his.
     And though I know the fellow, I have spent
     Long time a-wondering when I shall be
     As happy as Cliff Klingenhagen is.