Alcohol vs. Coffee: Literary Reaction \"The Sweet

Alcohol vs. coffee: Literary reaction

"The sweet Poison of the Treacherous Grape/....Drowning our very Reason and our Souls." The 18th century marked the beginning of what would come to be known as the neoclassical era of art and literature. It was the era of satire, marked by a belief in reason over emotion, an age which prized what was artificial, man-made and constructed over what was natural and instinctive. It was also the era of coffee and the coffee house. In this poem, coffee is celebrated as a beverage that sharpens the intellect, rather than dulls it like alcohol, the 'poison' that drowns reason. Throughout the poem, a dichotomy of coffee vs. alcohol is created. The values of the Age of Enlightenment are exemplified in this contrast, as well as many of the literary features of the era, including rhyming couplets, metrical verse, and poems that 'say' what they mean rather than are subtle and elusive in their textual content.

Alcohol is said to muddy the brain and lead to "Drink, Rebellion, and religion too" (i.e., emotional excess). In contrast, coffee (which is called truly 'heaven sent') is the "All-healing-Berry, / At once to make us both Sober and Merry." Coffee embodies the values of moderation, versus the previous era of political as well as religious extremism. "COFFEE arrives, that Grave and wholesome Liquor,/That heals the Stomack, makes the Genius quicker, / Relieves the Memory, Revives the Sad,/And cheers the spirits, without making Mad." Coffee provides the pleasure of quickening the mind rather than dulling it, and has medicinal benefits that alcohol lacks. Alcohol is associated with "Vapors" (which were thought to cause diseases) while coffee heals. A substance that makes someone out-of-control is to be feared, while coffee brings happiness, without excess passion. Coffee is a beverage that exemplifies all of the values of the Age of Reason.

The idea of 'balance' of body and mind caused by coffee that is celebrated in the poem clearly shows how symmetry and control are considered more important than pleasure and letting out one's natural emotions. Of coffee: "Its constant Use the sullenest Griefs will Rout, / Removes the Dropsie, gives ease to the Gout." Alcohol makes a person more savage, but coffee makes drinkers healthier and more functional -- more social and therefore more human. "A friendly Entercourse it doth maintain/Between the Heart, Liver and the Brain." It causes a friendly intercourse between the organs of the body, and also a more friendly intercourse between human beings, who do not feel motivated to fight, as when they drink alcohol. The earlier era of revolution and political disharmony is linked to alcohol, and the embrace of a beverage that stimulates anger rather than fellowship.