Take the Pledge

The pledge, the pledge, the guardian pledge,
     With the poise of self-denial!
It will steady your steps on the dizzy edge
Where slip and topple the souls who grudge
     One vow in their virtue’s trial.

Come, take, and take for your brother’s sake
     If not for your own defending;
There is never a soul that has no stake
In all the woes of that fiery lake
     Where tippler and sot are descending!

Then come, yes, come, though the press be dumb,
     And pride and fashion revile us;
No tongue utter the bitter sum
Of the woes that out of the wine-cup come,
     Like the swarming frogs of Nilus.

Ah! what, ah! what though you need it not?
     Then surely the pledge were no fetter;
If it gall to the quick some tender spot,
For your life escape from an evil lot
     And bind your soul to the better.

The pledge, the pledge, lay hold on the pledge;
     ‘Tis a rope to the wrecked soul drifting.
We’ll draw you back from the maelstrom’s edge
And plant your feet on the granite ledge
     Of safety, in sunshine lifting.