A Satisfactory Reform

 A merry burgomaster
 In a burgh upon the Rhine
Said, “Our burghers all are
 Far too fond of drinking wine.”
So the merry burgomaster,
 When the burgomasters met,
Bade them look into the matter
 Ere the thing went farther yet.

And the merry burgomasters
 Did decide the only way
To alleviate the evil
 Without worry or delay
Would be just to call a meeting
 Of the burghers, great and small,
And then open every wine cask
 And proceed to drink it all.

“For,” they said, “when we have swallowed
 Every drop that’s in the land,
There can be no more of drinking,
 It is plain to understand.”
So they called a monster meeting,
 And the burghers, small and great,
Drank and drank until they were too
 Tipsy to perambulate.

But there still was wine in plenty,
 So, in sooth, the only way
Was to call another meeting;
 So they called it for next day.
Thus from day to day the burghers
 Met and swallowed seas of wine,
And they vowed the reformation
 Was a mission quite divine.

And today the worthy burghers
 In that burgh upon the Rhine
Still continue their great mission,
 And still swallow seas of wine.
And they vow they will not falter
 In their great reforming task
Till the last drop has been emptied
 From the very last wine cask.

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