A Wine of Wizardry

A Wine of Wizardry
by George Sterling
A Wine of Wizardry and Other Poems, first edition, first state
Written1903–1904
First published in1907
Cover artistHerman George Scheffauer
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject(s)imagination
Genre(s)fantasy, horror

"A Wine of Wizardry" is a fantasy-horror poem by George Sterling written in 1903 and 1904. When the poem was first published in Cosmopolitan magazine in 1907 with an afterword by Ambrose Bierce it stimulated a nationwide controversy. It was both critically praised and condemned. The poem was reprinted in Sterling's 1908 collection A Wine of Wizardry and Other Poems. It was reprinted again several times, and has been imitated and parodied by many writers, including Sterling himself. The poem inspired Clark Ashton Smith to become a poet and influenced other writers as well.