Page 29 - Enjoying Words (EW) Comprehension & literature

THE END OF THE ROAD

In these boots and with this staff

Two hundred leaguers and a half
Walked I, went I, paced I, tripped I,

Marched I, held I, skelped I, slipped I,
Pushed I, panted I, swung and dashed I,

Picked I, forded, swam and splashed I,

Strolled I, climbed I, crawled and scrambled,
Dropped and dipped I, ranged and rambled;

Plodded I, hobbled I, trudged and tramped I,

And in lonely spinnies cramped I.
Lingered and loitered, limped and crept I,

Clambered, halted, stepped and leapt I,
Slowly sauntered, roundly strode I,

And ……………………
Let me not conceal it …. rode I.

(For who but critics could complain
Of riding in a railway train?)

Across the valleys and the high land,
With all the world on either hand,

Drinking when I had a mind to,
Singing when I felt inclined to;

Nor ever turned my face to home,

Till I had slaked my heart at Rome.

From ‘The Path to Rome’ by Hilaire Belloc

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