Written at an Inn at Henley
William Shenstone
To thee, fair Freedom, I retire
From flattery, cards, and dice, and din;
Nor art thou found in mansions higher
Than the low cot or humble inn.
'Tis here with boundless power I reign,
And every health which I begin
Converts dull port to bright champagne:
Such freedom crowns it at an inn.
I fly from pomp, I fly from plate,
I fly from falsehood's specious grin;
Freedom I love and form I hate,
And choose my lodgings at an inn.
Here, waiter! take my sordid ore,
Which lackeys else might hope to win;
It buys what courts have not in store,
It buys me freedom at an inn.
Whoe'er has traveled life's dull round,
Where'er his stages may have been,
May sigh to think he still has found
The warmest welcome at an inn.
This poem was written in the Red Lion Inn in Henley. It is said that Shenstone scratched them on a window of the Inn with a diamond. A reproduction of the original pane of glass is now in situ.
The Red Lion was probably built in 1531, thought it incorporates even older buildings including a 14th century Chantry House. Famous guests include Samuel Johnson (and his friend Boswell), Charles I and the Duke of Marlborough, who used the Inn as a stopping point on his way to and from Blenheim Palace.
