by (Joseph) Hilaire Belloc (1870 - 1953)

Do you remember an Inn
Language: English 
Do you remember an Inn,
Miranda?
Do you remember an Inn?
And the tedding and the spreading
Of the straw for a bedding,
And the fleas that tease in the High Pyrenees,
And the wine that tasted of tar?
And the cheers and the jeers of the young muleteers
(Under the vine of the dark verandah)?
Do you remember an Inn, Miranda?
Do you remember an Inn?
And the cheers and the jeers of the young muleteers
Who hadn't got a penny
And who weren't paying any,
And the hammer at the doors and the din?
And the hip! hop! hap!
Of the clap
Of the hands to the swirl and the twirl
of the girl gone chancing,
Glancing,
Dancing,
Backing and advancing,
Snapping of the clapper to the spin
Out and in --
And the ting, tong, tang of the guitar!
Do you remember an Inn, 
Miranda?
Do you remember an Inn?

Never more; 
Miranda,
Never more.
Only the high peaks hoar:
And Aragon a torrent at the door.
No sound
In the walls of the halls where falls
The tread 
Of the feet of the dead to the ground,
No sound:
But the boom
Of the waterfall like doom.

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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 204