1934 What Shall We Drink by Magnus Bredenbek

Chapter XXI

Toasts Toastsare expressions offriendship,admiration,esteem or hope. They voice a wish for another's welfare, for mutual felicity and prosperity,or for turns in the tide of Fate. They may be ironic, cynical or defiant, as a hope for a foe's van- quishment. Nearly everyemotion may be voiced in them and they may be given in verse or prose. If host or hostess toast their guests, the guests Hkewise may toast their hosts or hostesses. At pubhc banquets or dinners the toasts become, too often, long-winded eulogies. They are to be tolerated,not encouraged,although,of coirrse, one must applaud, willy nilly. In its best sense,the toast should be short and fehcitous, a voicing of some nice sentimentfrom one person to another. Many start the dinner with a cocktail toast to the host or hostess. Butthe realtoasting comes with the sparkling wines, when. Champagne or Sparkling Burgundy glass in hand,the hour of conviviahty starts post-prandial eloquence. It is not difl&cult to memorize a good toast,butsome of the best are impromptu. The recipient of a toast tribute should not be tongue-tied, but should make some response as graci ous as the one bestowed. Wine tends toward joviahty and, even if one cannot be eloquent,the mood of the glass accepts the return toast as a gem of thought even if it be a mere re ciprocal wish. Toasts, as a rule, should be drunk standing, but as this sometimes is awkward, the lifting of glasses high before drinking may suflfice. Readers wUl find a toast to fit almost any occasion in the following gleanings from masters of the art:

A Few Popular Toasts Come,fill the cup, and in the fire of Spring Your winter garment of repentance fling; The Bird of Time has but a little way To flutter—and the Bird is on the Wing!

"Rubaiyat"(Fitzgerald trans.)

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