The Song of Right and Wrong

Gilbert Keith Chesterton 1874 (Kensington, London) – 1936 (Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire)



Feast on wine or fast on water
              And your honour shall stand sure,
              God Almighty's son and daughter
              He the valiant, she the pure;
              If an angel out of heaven
              Brings you other things to drink,
              Thank him for his kind attentions,
              Go and pour them down the sink.

              Tea is like the East he grows in,
              A great yellow Mandarin
              With urbanity of manner
              And unconsciousness of sin;
              All the women, like a harem,
              At his pig-tail troop along;
              And, like all the East he grows in,
              He is Poison when he's strong.

              Tea, although an Oriental,
              Is a gentleman at least;
              Cocoa is a cad and coward,
              Cocoa is a vulgar beast,
              Cocoa is a dull, disloyal,
              Lying, crawling cad and clown,
              And may very well be grateful
              To the fool that takes him down.

              As for all the windy waters,
              They were rained like tempests down
              When good drink had been dishonoured
              By the tipplers of the town;
              When red wine had brought red ruin
              And the death-dance of our times,
              Heaven sent us Soda Water
              As a torment for our crimes.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

56 sec read
100

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDXD ECAEXFEF GHXHGIGI XIHICJAJ
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,410
Words 187
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8

Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an influential English writer of the early 20th century His diverse output included journalism philosophy poetry biography Christian apologetics fantasy and detective fiction Gilbert Keith Chesterton KC*SG was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Time magazine observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out." more…

All Gilbert Keith Chesterton poems | Gilbert Keith Chesterton Books

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