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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SUSSEX DRINKING SONG by HILAIRE BELLOC

Poet Analysis

First Line: THEY SELL GOOD BEER AT HASLEMERE
Last Line: FOR A BELLYFUL OF GOOD ALE.
Subject(s): DRINKS & DRINKING; WINE;

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 the Washington Inn
Is the very best beer I know.

With my here it goes, there it goes,
All the fun's before us.
The door's ajar and the barrel is sprung,
The tipple's aboard and the night is young;
I am singing the best song ever was sung,
And it has a rousing chorus.

If I was what I never can be,
The Master or the Squire;
If you gave me the rape 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 my acres, I would,
For a bellyful of good ale.



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