"This coffee falls into your stomach, and straightway there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move like the battalions of the Grand Army on the battlefield"

Litbeees and their Idees Fixes [ee-day feeks]

This post would be an upshot of sorts to our little series on the brew! ;-) 

[Idée fixe: an idea or desire that dominates the mind; an obsession.]

In sweet continuation of our ambrosial series on the intake and the impact of the brew on literary beings, [Litbeees], this post would take off thenceforth, from whence we had pitstopped earlier, - at Ukers - William H. Ukers and his true-brew read titled, All About Coffee.

Amongst the French literati, Voltaire and Balzac were the most ardent bhaktas to the brew, ever, avers Ukers!

Voltaire the king of wits was also king of coffee drinkers, says he! Even in his old age he was said to have consumed fifty cups daily. Ende deivameyyy! ;-) 

To the abstemious Balzac, coffee was both food and drink, he adds!

So who pray, is Balzac?

Well, Balzac, Honore de Balzac, - yet another black coffee bhakta - is considered the creator of realism in the novel. In fact, he also has claim to the epithet, the “Shakespeare of the novel.”

Moreover, Frederick Lawton in his high-renowned ‘Balzac biography’ titled Balzac says: 

Balzac worked hard. His habit was to go to bed at six in the evening, sleep till twelve, and after, to rise and write for nearly twelve hours at a stretch, imbibing coffee as a stimulant through these spells of composition.

Quite interestingly, Balzac, a true ‘monolithic man of letters’, stakes his sweet claim to fame not only as one of the fathers of realism, but also as a ‘great abuser of coffee’. ;-)

The ambit of this post - the swan song of this year’s - would thence be two-fold!

Firstly, to strive and highlight excerpts from Balzac’s ‘meditations’ on coffee, which acted as the bestest of stimulants on/for him!

Secondly, to connect this coffee craze from ‘a thousand tongues’ off past litbeees [literary beings], with present day litbeees who have been and continue to be, such a rave and a rage amongst literati today!

In this regard, shall we then, quite gently turn our attention to Balzac’s little treatise [in about seventy pages] titled, Treatise on Modern Stimulants, translated into English, with an introduction, by Kassy Hayden.

The blurb to the book bares it all on the gentle brew –

Honoré de Balzac’s Treatise on Modern Stimulants is a meditation on excess by a man who lived by means of excess - an author very conscious of the fact that his gargantuan body of work was driven by an intake of intellectual stimulants (his bouts of writing would typically require ten to fifteen cups a day of his preferred coffee). 

First published in French in 1839 as an appendix to Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin’s Physiology of Taste, this Treatise was at once Balzac’s effort at addressing what he perceived to be an oversight in that cornerstone of gastronomic literature!

Balzac’s meditations here are so beautifully laid out. 

In fact, he gives off his awesome takes on the impact of the ‘famous five’ stimulants - tea, sugar, coffee, alcohol, and tobacco - on the human body here. But chief of the chiefest stimulants for Balzac oughta gotta be his cuppa coffee!

Added, Balzac here describes his ‘terrible and cruel method’ or his strategies for brewing a coffee that can help the artist and author find inspiration!

Says he on the gentle brew -

This coffee falls into your stomach, and straightway there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move like the battalions of the Grand Army on the battlefield, and the battle takes place. Things remembered arrive full gallop, ensign to the wind. 

The light cavalry of comparisons deliver a magnificent, deploying charge; the artillery of logic hurry up with their train and ammunition; the shafts of wit start up like sharp-shooters. 

Similes arise; the paper is covered with ink; for the struggle commences and is concluded with torrents of black water, just as a battle with powder.

The power of the blend on Balzac is boggling, mind-boggling, ladies and gentlemen! And on this cliffhanger-mode, i deem it delightful to stop! ;-)

I now consider it a great honour and a pleasant privilege to take y’all quite joyfully along with me into the last book of the season! A book that I’ve so loved reading all of this past month! 

Presenting Elif Shafak to y’all, ladies and gentlemen!

Well, as a little preview to this part of the post: I was browsing my way through Starmark’s ‘showcase books’ that have hit the stands of late, when I chanced upon a clump of Elif Shafak’s books on their sweet sweeter sweetest stacks! One particular book of Elif’s titled Three Daughters of Eve caught my attention for reasons I shall quite soon disclose down below.

Peri is the protagonist to this riveting Shafak presentation! Peri takes us from her childhood in Istanbul, to her stint at Oxford University, where she meets with her ‘Polaroid’ folks! 

On Peri and her ‘Polaroid folks’, I’d prod thee gentle, dear reader, to take upon thyself the kutty little trouble of lookin’ up page 80 to the part that begins, The Poem, and datelined, Istanbul, 2016, on this Shafak stimulant! In fact, the novel from thence on hinges on these ‘Polaroid folks!’ No spoilers here though! 

Well, the three daughters of Eve, then, are the sensual, unassuming, yet confident types, and they are, the Iranian-born Shirin, the quite modest, religious Egyptian-American Mona and Peri herself! To Shafak, the trio are, ‘the Sinner, the Believer and the Confused!’ Interestingly, the three ‘daughters’ gravitate towards the fourth person, Professor Azur, who taught at the University. Any more spoilers, and you’re sure bound to rankle and rile at pavapetta me, I swear!!! ;-)

Strangely enough, Orhan Pamuk keeps darting and dashing across your inward eye each and every time you read Shafak’s descriptions of Istanbul in this, her engaging novel!

And hence on this vein, I’m sure it’s not gotta be glaring if I do a daring connect of sorts between the Achebe - Adichie duo, vis-à-vis the Pamuk - Shafak duo! 

For, like their African counterparts do, these Turkish duo do too! 

Both Pamuk and Shafak talk with such a nostalgic pine and a yearn for a past Istanbul that’s now lost unto them! You might want to read Pamuk’s delightful take on Istanbul in our past post here. 

Like Pamuk, Shafak too has such profound preoccupations with panoramic portraits from Istanbul’s glorious past! And both writers deal with the devastating clash between tradition and modernity in their novels.

There’s a hunch to what’s in store as concerns ‘the past’, in Shafak’s chapter titled, ‘The Poem’ where she lets us know the mind voice of Peri, her protagonist –

Whether men or women, it was always people with rough journeys in their pasts, uncertainty in their eyes and invisible wounds in their souls that intrigued her. 

Generous with her time and loyal to the bone, she befriended these select few with an unflagging commitment and love. But with everyone else, who constituted pretty much the majority, her interest quickly morphed into boredom. 

And when bored all she wanted was to escape – to free herself from that person, from that conversation, from that moment.

The very first chapter to Shafak’s Three Daughters of Eve, is titled, “The Handbag” and it is datelined, ‘Istanbul, 2016’.

And the very first event that happens in the novel is a description of Istanbul –

It was all because of the traffic… Rumbling, roaring, metal clanking against metal like the cries of a thousand warriors. 

The entire city was one giant construction site. Istanbul had grown uncontrollably and kept on expanding – a bloated goldfish, unaware of having gobbled more than it could digest, still searching around for more to eat. 

Looking back on that fateful afternoon, Peri would conclude that had it not been for the hopeless gridlock, the chain of events that awakened a long-dormant part of her memory would never have been set in motion.

Like a magic wand in the wrong hands, the traffic turned minutes into hours, humans into brutes and any trace of sanity into sheer lunacy. 

Istanbul didn’t seem to mind. Time, brutes and lunacy it had aplenty. One hour more, one hour less; one brute more, one lunatic less – past a certain point, it made no difference.

But this thingummy about the past is quite meet for another post!

So what’s that little trigger that prompted me to pen this post for y’all?

I owe you dear readers, a little explanation on this part! Yes, I really do!

Well, as part answer, what quite interested me about this endearing book is the fact that, the book is replete with at least a hundred different instances of people having coffee or longing for a cup of coffee, especially the Turkish variety! ;-)

And thence comes along so gentle and so true, the bhakta and the brew, ;-) on a real trove for us all, in the very first chapter –

Before setting out on the road they had stopped at a Star Börek – a Turkish coffee chain that had been repeatedly sued by Starbucks for using their logo, their menu and a distorted version of their name but was still, because of legal loopholes, in business – and bought two drinks: a skinny latte for Peri, a double chocolaty chip crème frappuccino for her daughter. Peri had finished hers, but Deniz was taking forever, sipping gingerly like an injured bird.

And her tryst with coffee continues unabated, without bell or brake, all through the novel’s narrative time!

When Peri was out exploring Oxford, she discovered a bookstore that was called ‘Two Kinds of Intelligence’. 

Soon, the bookstore became a favourite spot for Peri, not only because of the handpicked volumes they showcased from philosophy, psychology, religion and the occult, but also because they had pastel bean bags on the floor for customers to sit on and most importantly, a coffee machine that served free coffee for all readers, all day long! ;-)

Hope some benevolent philanthropist from our part of the globe does thus for us! ;-)

And quite soon, it became a matter of habit for Peri to visit this bookstore. 

Once she landed here, by default then, she would grab her cup of coffee, put a coin in the tip box and plant herself on a bean bag, reading until her back hurt and her legs felt stiff.

Some of the elucidations on the ‘nectar in the cup’ are beyond compare, dangling somewhere between the ideal and the metaphysical! Here goes a sample on the cuppa –

The sun on her back, she pulled her legs towards herself, her knees up against her chin, finding a strange calm amidst rare plants and trees. 

In her hand she held a coffee cup, which she pressed against her cheek, the warmth as comforting as the touch of a lover.

I ‘double-strongly’ ;-) recommend this ‘Shafak read’ to any many bhaktas of the brew and the book! You’re sure gonna be intoxicated to the core by the ‘Shafak spell’ in this descriptive, discursive and delightful truebrew read from off Shafak’s own delightful bistro, who fortuitously doubles up as our barista too!

And for now, the brew breaks here, on a brief hiatus, dear ladies and gentlemen!

*****

PS: In the meantime, may I have the pleasure and the privilege of inviting y’all to join me over the brew, on the book release of Dr. Geetha’s maiden book titled, Nuts to Crack and Eat, at Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday, 31 December 2019. [Dr. Geetha retired as Vice-Principal and Head, Department of English, Women’s Christian College, Nagercoil, after 36 years of illustrious service]. A special post on the book would happen soon, on this, our little literary space, over here! Invitation for the book launch soon follows!

'Whene’er I, fragrant coffee drink, I on the generous Frenchman think...'

Sailor Clieu and our Daily Brew!

The Coffee Story 💜

#coffeemeditations ☕

Well folks, please allow me the honour of getting us all back in the saddle, onto our daily coffee grind!

our regular bistro ;-)

In the past post we had Calvino and the coffee-pot! 

We had Calvino giving us ‘incisive instructions’ on how to read his book, where he also recommends to his reader, ideal sitting positions that would suit you, for ‘your’ reading of the book!

Says Calvino -

‘In the old days they used to read standing up, at a lectern’, but for once, this time alone, ‘why not try a sofa and cushions with a pack of cigarettes and coffee-pot nearby?’ because, you’ll real need them. It dawns on you in a transformative, epiphanic moment, that you are now an actor, not a spectator, in this ‘theatre of reading’.

Can there be a better way of celebrating the primacy of the reader in the meaning-making process, dear reader? Nayver!

‘You are now an actor, not a Spectator’, he says!

Reminds us of Addison’s Spectator, which according to the noble and able duo, catered to the ‘new middle class’, taught them refinement, grace, elegance and style. 

Through this popular periodical of his day, with a circulation of over ten thousand copies for each issue, Addison instructs and exhorts his readers full well, on the need for ‘a constant and assiduous Culture’. 

Parallels abound between Calvino’s If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler and Addison’s Spectator. 

One interesting connect in especial between the two, would be the fact that, both have their authors exhorting their readers to pore over their reads after pouring for themselves a cuppa, from off a coffee-pot! 

Noted critic Scupin Richard, being an ardent devotee of the cuppa himself, used to say, quite very often, in his own inimitable style, on the ‘power in the blend!’ 

Says he, ‘The true mission of a confirmed coffeephile in his/her life is to find the perfect cup!’ ;-)

 Amazing ain’t it? ;-)

And that’s hence he adds to say that the coffeephile’s prayer is so unique and so noble! so pure and so profound! 

Yes! when you take some time off your daily grind, to listen intently to a coffeephile’s prayers, - with a clear mind, a pure heart and a conscience void of offence, - you are sure bound to hear for yourself, the gentle whisper streaming in your ears, that says, 

‘Give us this day our daily brew!’

An amazing prayer, ain’t it folks? ;-)

A prayer where there’s no harm intended to anyone in thought, word or deed! No unwanted vain chatter! 

No frivolous talk! No gossip! And as Tagore says -

‘My song has put off her adornments. She has no pride of dress and decoration. Ornaments would mar our union; they would come between thee and me; their jingling would drown thy whispers’.

That’s one reason why they say that, coffee has been for long the nectar of the gods! ;-)

So next time around, when you see a cloud formation that comes out cute in the form of a kettle, up above the world so high, remember, St. Peter up there is busy brewing the brew!!! ;-)

Presenting the nectar of the gods to y’all, ladies and gentlemen!

Yes! this William H. Ukers read titled, All About Coffee has some tidbits on ardent coffeephiles who also doubled up as passionate literary beings. [litbeees we’ll call them!]

The purpose of this post then, is threefold!

First and foremost, this post, in this little space, would strive to highlight a few eminent ‘literary beings’ from the pages of the past, [litbeees for short] who having rollicked and revelled in the pure, serene delights of the cuppa all through their lives, also desired to transfer their cuppa joys, straight from their hearts into their lines and their lyrics!

Secondly, this post would endeavour to bring us all, the true story of the brew! Let’s call it the ‘true brew story!’ ;-) On how the brew got his present fame and popularity!

Thirdly, this post would love to share Lamb’s take on Clieu and the brew!

Ukers opines that, Alexander Pope very often broke the slumbers of his servant at night by calling him to prepare a cup of coffee; It was his custom to grind and prepare it upon the table, says he!

William Cowper’s fine tribute to the cuppa could be gauged from his power-line where he says, ‘the cups that cheer, but not inebriate’!

Leigh Hunt and John Keats were litbeees [literary beings] who were ‘worshippers at the shrine of coffee’, says Ukers.

Charles Lamb has celebrated in verse the exploit of Captain de Clieu in pursuit of the cuppa, in his verses titled, ‘THE COFFEE SLIPS!’

But who pray is Captain de Clieu? Why do we need to build a huge ‘Statue of Robusta’ for some Captain de Clieu?

Read on for the cues and the clues to Clieu’s claim over the cuppa, right here -

Well, the Arabs in the 1600’s were quite secretive and very much protective of their coffee beans, says Ukers. [Remember the amazing Arabica variety, that’s the most popular type all over the world?]

This blogger, during his cuppa time! ;-)

At the same time, the spread of coffee was also curtailed very much by the unavailability of the plant in most parts of the world. 

Hence it was, that the price of coffee skyrocketed! And since prices were high, demand was obviously high, and hence the drink had a high-value tag attached to it! 

And that’s how it became a drink of the elite in those days!

As we are wont to know, the recent skyrocketing of onion prices in India, saw middlemen indulging in large-scale illegal stocking and hoarding of onions, resulting in a  subsequent import of onions into our nation from Egypt! 

In the self-same way, when profits are high, and demand is more, the product becomes a high-value commodity, resulting in unholy nexus and unlawful behaviour on all sides!

Suchmuch was the case with coffee too!

Shockingly, people were kidnapped and killed just because they were found to be in possession of those high-value coffee plants!

Much evidence points to the fact that, the Europeans ‘hijacked’ coffee plants in huge hordes as early as the late 1500’s, says Ukers.

In such a scenario, when coffee plants were a treasured species of plants, the royal gardeners in Paris, at the renowned botanical gardens, were busy planning to propagate the coffee plant as a rare and one of its kind ‘horticultural marvel’ of sorts! Paavam! Little did they know of its huge economic potential!

However, a sailor by name Clieu, Gabriel-Mathieu De Clieu, who having travelled widely all through his life, and knowing the immense demand and the great sway that coffee had over the market, devised a strategy by which means, he along with a band of masked men, scaled the walls of the Paris botanical gardens, and after whisking away a young coffee tree from off its royal gardens, quickly vanished into the night!

The ship on which sailor Clieu sailed with the ‘coveted trophy’ – the coffee plant - witnessed dangerous storms and bad weather, and was once almost captured by pirates! 

In such a situation, even fresh water was in such short supply, resulting in the rationing of fresh water. 

Amidst this tight-corner of a situation, De Clieu fed this valuable fresh water from off his quota to his highly valued and greatly treasured coffee seedlings. 

As a result of his ‘sacrificial love’ and ‘sincere care and nurture’, the coffee seedling were nursed back to health and survived this arduous voyage!

As soon as he arrived in Martinique, Clieu proceeded to plant this precious shrub all over his lands!

One reason why Clieu confesses later that, he had obtained his coffee plant not by theft but through sheer romance!’ ;-) by wooing and charming a ‘Lady of High Standing’ from off the French royal courts!

Tells us all, ladies and gentlemen, about the ‘charm and the power in the blend’, alley?

Tells us to what great extent people can stretch themselves, to go for a cupful of delightful coffee!

Finally, when Clieu’s coffee shrubs began yielding fruit, Clieu was gracious enough to share the seed and cuttings with his neighbouring planters! 

And within no time, Martinique was filled with coffee plants, boasting of nearly 20 million highly productive trees.

Evidence suggests that, nearly 90 percent of the world’s coffee has spread from this plant.

One reason why De Clieu has for long enjoyed a cult status and a celebrity following, amongst the coffee drinkers’ collective from all over the world!

That’s hence Lamb, Charles Lamb, pays De Clieu a royal lyrical tribute in the year 1810, in which he sings peans to Clieu and to the power of the blend!

Whene’er I fragrant coffee drink,

I on the generous Frenchman think,

Whose noble perseverance bore

The tree to Martinico’s shore.

While yet her colony was new,

Her island products but a few,

Two shoots from off a coffee-tree

He carried with him o’er the sea.

Each little tender coffee slip

He waters daily in the ship,

And as he tends his embryo trees,

Feels he is raising midst the seas

Coffee groves, whose ample shade

Shall screen the dark Creolian maid.

But soon, alas! his darling pleasure

In watching this his precious treasure

Is like to fade,-for water fails

On board the ship in which he sails.

Now all the reservoirs are shut,

The crew on short allowance put;

So small a drop is each man’s share,

Few leavings you may think there are

To water these poor coffee plants;-

But he supplies their gasping wants,

Even from his own dry parchëd lips

He spares it for his coffee slips.

Water he gives his nurslings first,

Ere he allays his own deep thirst

Lest, if he first the water sip,

He bear too far his eager lip.

He sees them droop for want of more;-

Yet when they reach the destined shore,

With pride the heroic gardener sees

A living sap still in his trees.

The islanders his praise resound;

Coffee plantations rise around;

And Martinico loads her ships

With produce from those dear-saved slips.

Hail Lamb! Hail Clieu and his Cuppa!

To be continued…

images: this blogger's

'You derive a special pleasure from a just-published book!'

If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler | A Calvino Delight for this Winter

Well, winters are that part of the year, that’s long delayed, but often longed for! Ain’t it?

A time when the cold winter winds coupled with the divine margazhi music and the blessed Christmas chimes of the season are sure bound to excite all ye literary souls to sneak into a warm [hearth-like] comfy, cozy sette of sorts, with a cup of piping hot coffee in hand, and your favourite book(s) for company, ain’t it?

early morning today... in the very chill of winter @ namma chennai!

This wintry morning, in the thrilly chilly weather, ;-) while walking my way down the sidewalk on our street, onto my usual bistro for my morning brew, I chanced upon a cute little dog ensconced and nestled in such a cozy and comfy posture, in the embers of a dying fire, on a vacant land quite near to where I stay, prompting the little shutterbug in me to start working overtime! ;-)

That fortuitous sight then, happens to be the initial trigger for this post! [Now, gently move your eyes to the first line of this post that starts with ‘If...’ right away, please! Thank you!] And therefore, please allow me, ladies and gentlemen, to thank this lovely little doggy on (y)our behalf! ;-)

late night tonight... to beat the chill @ namma chennai! 

We humans too quite feel the chill to a thrill, ain’t we? That’s one reason why me thought of giving y’all a glimpse into how we kill the chill in the company of the cuppa and comfy friends! [Hence this late night ‘cuppa click’ exclusive, from the self-same day for y’all!]

Now, coming to the post at hand: Well, as eminent critic Scupin Richard avers, ‘After reading through even a kutty little slice of any ‘Italo Calvino delight’, one could say with a reasonable amount of conviction that Calvino offers any of his devotees on a delectable platter, quite an endearing and a seamless journey into the ‘art and adventure of reading’ in itself!’ How true he proves!!!

'The intelligent man who empties these cups of foaming coffee, he alone knows truth'

All About Coffee | A Primer for All Coffeeholics Out There!

This book titled, All About Coffee, is so unique and one of its kind! Well, it’s all about coffee, and it’s got everything you really wanted to know about your daily brew!

Before we quite begin our sojourn into this amazing 1923 book [written by William H. Ukers and runs to a whopping 820 pages], a million thanks are due to Dr. Shibu for so thoughtfully sending across this book to me, one of his own ilk on the coffee trove!

And as a prelude to our journey into this cuppa trove, let me first and foremost take you all straight to chapter XXXVII of the book, that gives some intense poems on Coffee, ;-) that would act the real stimulant and excitant on this, our sacred journey into the divine cuppa!

So here we go with excerpts from this 1923 book! - 

Chapter XXXVII

A HISTORY OF COFFEE IN LITERATURE

The romance of coffee, and its influence on the discourse, poetry, history, drama, philosophic writing, and fiction of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and on the writers of today - Coffee in Ancient and Modern Verse - In Dramatic Literature - In General Literature - Coffee Quips and Anecdotes

Any study of the literature of coffee comprehends a survey of selections from the best thought of civilized nations, from the time of Rhazes (850–922) to Francis Saltus. Rhazes, the physician-philosopher, appears to have been the first writer to mention coffee; and was followed by other great physicians, like Bengiazlah, a contemporary, and Avicenna (980–1037).

Then arose many legends about coffee, that served as inspiration for Arabian, French, Italian, and English poets.

Sheik Gemaleddin, mufti of Mocha, is said to have discovered the virtues of coffee about 1454, and to have promoted the use of the drink in Arabia. Knowledge of the new beverage was given to Europeans by the botanists Rauwolf and Alpini toward the close of the sixteenth century.

The first authentic account of the origin of coffee was written by Abd-al-Kâdir in 1587. It is the famous Arabian manuscript commending the use of coffee, preserved in the Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris, and catalogued as “Arabe, 4590.”

Abd-al-Kâdir’s book has immortalized coffee. It is in seven chapters. The first chapter deals with the etymology and significance of the word cahouah (kahwa), the nature and properties of the bean, where the drink was first used, and describes its virtues. The other chapters have to do largely with the church dispute in Mecca in 1511, answer the religious objectors to coffee, and conclude with a collection of Arabic verses composed during the Mecca controversy by the best poets of the time.

De Nointel, ambassador from the court of Louis XIV to the Ottoman Porte, brought back with him to Paris from Constantinople the Abd-al-Kâdir manuscript, and another by Bichivili, one of the three general treasurers of the Ottoman Empire. The latter work is of a later date than the Abd-al-Kâdir manuscript, and is concerned chiefly with the history of the introduction of coffee into Egypt, Syria, Damascus, Aleppo, and Constantinople.

The following are two of the earliest Arabic poems in praise of coffee. They are about the period of the first coffee persecution in Mecca (1511), and are typical of the best thought of the day:

In Praise of Coffee

[Translation from the Arabic]

O Coffee! Thou dost dispel all cares, thou art the object of desire to the scholar.

This is the beverage of the friends of God; it gives health to those in its service who strive after wisdom.

Prepared from the simple shell of the berry, it has the odor of musk and the color of ink.

The intelligent man who empties these cups of foaming coffee, he alone knows truth.

May God deprive of this drink the foolish man who condemns it with incurable obstinacy.

Coffee is our gold. Wherever it is served, one enjoys the society of the noblest and most generous men.

O drink! As harmless as pure milk, which differs from it only in its blackness.

Coffee Companionship

[Translation from the Arabic]

Come and enjoy the company of coffee in the places of its habitation; for the Divine Goodness envelops those who partake of its feast.

There the elegance of the rugs, the sweetness of life, the society of the guests, all give a picture of the abode of the blest.

It is a wine which no sorrow could resist when the cup-bearer presents thee with the cup which contains it.

It is not long since Aden saw thy birth. If thou doubtest this, see the freshness of youth shining on the faces of thy children.

Grief is not found within its habitations. Trouble yields humbly to its power.

It is the beverage of the children of God, it is the source of health.

It is the stream in which we wash away our sorrows. It is the fire which consumes our griefs.

Whoever has once known the chafing-dish which prepares this beverage, will feel only aversion for wine and liquor from casks.

Delicious beverage, its color is the seal of its purity.

Reason pronounces favorably on the lawfulness of it.

Drink of it confidently, and give not ear to the speech of the foolish, who condemn it without reason.

During the period of the second religious persecution of coffee in the latter part of the sixteenth century, other Arabian poets sang the praises of coffee. The learned Fakr-Eddin-Aboubeckr ben Abid Iesi wrote a book entitled The Triumph of Coffee, and the poet-sheikh Sherif-Eddin-Omar-ben-Faredh sang of it in harmonious verse, wherein, discoursing of his mistress, he could find no more flattering comparison than coffee. He exclaims, “She has made me drink, in long draughts, the fever, or, rather, the coffee of love!”

To be continued…

image: amazondotcom