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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on June 2, 2017 at 8:32

The Song Against Grocers

G.K. Chesterton

(From "The Flying Inn", 1914)

God made the wicked Grocer
For a mystery and a sign,
That men might shun the awful shops
And go to inns to dine;
Where the bacon's on the rafter
And the wine is in the wood,
And God that made good laughter
Has seen that they are good.

The evil-hearted Grocer
Would call his mother "Ma'am,"
And bow at her and bob at her,
Her aged soul to damn,
And rub his horrid hands and ask
What article was next
Though MORTIS IN ARTICULO
Should be her proper text.

His props are not his children,
But pert lads underpaid,
Who call out "Cash!" and bang about
To work his wicked trade;
He keeps a lady in a cage
Most cruelly all day,
And makes her count and calls her "Miss"
Until she fades away.

The righteous minds of innkeepers
Induce them now and then
To crack a bottle with a friend
Or treat unmoneyed men,
But who hath seen the Grocer
Treat housemaids to his teas
Or crack a bottle of fish sauce
Or stand a man a cheese?

He sells us sands of Araby
As sugar for cash down;
He sweeps his shop and sells the dust
The purest salt in town,
He crams with cans of poisoned meat
Poor subjects of the King,
And when they die by thousands
Why, he laughs like anything.

The wicked Grocer groces
In spirits and in wine,
Not frankly and in fellowship
As men in inns do dine;
But packed with soap and sardines
And carried off by grooms,
For to be snatched by Duchesses
And drunk in dressing-rooms.

The hell-instructed Grocer
Has a temple made of tin,
And the ruin of good innkeepers
Is loudly urged therein;
But now the sands are running out
From sugar of a sort,
The Grocer trembles; for his time,
Just like his weight, is short.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on June 2, 2017 at 10:43

Yasar Halim?

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Permalink Reply by Andrina Bamber on June 9, 2017 at 21:35

There are many good green grocers on Green Lanes,you may even say the place is awash with them.From the Harrngay stadium up towards Wood Green.Who is asking?All you need to do is walk up the road,I have always found the shopkeepers kind and helpful and if they don't have what you are looking for in stock will always get it for you for the next time.Admittedly I have not been up to wood green for ages as it is often crowded and weekends gangs of teens seem to hang out there.

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