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Verses

Chapter 49: WEST SUSSEX DRINKING SONG
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About This Book

A varied collection of short poems mixing lyric meditation, satire, and balladry. The pieces range from war-tinged reflections and political commentary to convivial drinking songs, devotional verses, and playful dedications to friends and children. Many poems evoke rural and urban scenes with brisk, conversational diction, while others adopt formal stanzaic shapes for narrative effects. Themes include memory, faith, social critique, nature, and companionship, with tone shifting between humor and solemnity. The sequence alternates concise epigrams and longer narrative pieces, united by a rhythmic clarity and a direct, energetic voice that balances spontaneity with careful craft.

WEST SUSSEX DRINKING SONG

They sell good Beer at Haslemere
And under Guildford Hill.
At Little Cowfold as I’ve been told
A beggar may drink his fill:
There is a good brew in Amberley too,
And by the bridge also;
But the swipes they take in at Washington Inn
Is the very best Beer I know.
Chorus
With my here it goes, there it goes,
All the fun’s before us:
The Tipple’s Aboard and the night is young,
The door’s ajar and the Barrel is sprung,
I am singing the best song ever was sung
And it has a rousing chorus.
If I were what I never can be,
The master or the squire:
If you gave me the hundred from here to the sea,
Which is more than I desire:
Then all my crops should be barley and hops,
And did my harvest fail
I’d sell every rood of mine acres I would
For a belly-full of good Ale.
Chorus
With my here it goes, there it goes,
All the fun’s before us:
The Tipple’s aboard and the night is young,
The door’s ajar and the Barrel is sprung,
I am singing the best song ever was sung
And it has a rousing chorus.