The Night They Gave Chekhov Champagne

Tune: Frederick Loewe's "The Night They Invented Champagne"
(See http://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2010/aug/03/authors-last-words-death#/?picture=365413503&index=4)

The night they gave Chekhov champagne,
He drank a glass in sips,
Then cashed in all his chips;
The night they gave Chekhov champagne,
The drink he drank was drunked,*
And then he was defunct.
So tell me what profit we gain,
If, when we quit this earthly strife,
The corpse that they anoint
Has failed to make a point
Of squeezing every single drop of joy
From
Life?

*or:

He drank and drunk and drinked,
And then he was extinct.