Venus her myrtle, Phoebus has her bays;
Tea both excels, which she vouchsafes to praise.
The best of Queens, and best of herbs, we owe
To that bold nation, which the way did show
To the fair region where the sun doth rise,
Whose rich productions we so justly prize.
The Muse’s friend, tea does our fancy aid,
Repress those vapors which the head invade,
And keep the palace of the soul serene,
Fit on her birthday to salute the Queen.
This poem was first published on T Ching November 23, 2007.
I can’t say this is one of my favorite tea poems. I never quite get the rhythm correct with these early British passages.
It is a sonnet. Sonnets have a unique rhyme scheme. Unpacked, the poem says that tea is more divine than the goddess of love and the god of the sun together. Tea is a product of both love and the sun, nonetheless, and betters both in its ability to soothe the spirit and inspire great intellect and great poetry. Written in the 1600’s, it expresses how quickly and completely the British grew to admire tea. It is GREAT!