English poem
A Cider Song
by G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936)
To J.S.M.
EXTRACT FROM A ROMANCE WHICH IS NOT YET WRITTEN AND PROBABLY NEVER WILL BE.
The wine they drink in Paradise They make in Haute Lorraine; God brought it burning from the sod To be a sign and signal rod That they that drink the blood of God Shall never thirst again.
The wine they praise in Paradise They make in Ponterey, The purple wine of Paradise, But we have better at the price; It's wine they praise in Paradise, It's cider that they pray.
The wine they want in Paradise They find in Plodder's End, The apple wine of Hereford, Of Hafod Hill and Hereford, Where woods went down to Hereford, And there I had a friend.
The soft feet of the blessed go In the soft western vales, The road the silent saints accord, The road from Heaven to Hereford, Where the apple wood of Hereford Goes all the way to Wales.