Explore "The Song of the Strange Ascetic" by G.K. Chesterton on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
If I had been a Heathen, / I'd have praised the purple vine, / My slaves should dig the vineyards, / And I would drink the wine; / But Higgins is a Heathen, / And his slaves grow lean and grey, / That he may drink some tepid milk / Exactly twice a day.
If I had been a Heathen, / I'd have crowned Neoera's curls, / And filled my life with love affairs, / My house with dancing girls; / But Higgins is a Heathen, / And to lecture rooms is forced, / Where his aunts, who are not married, / Demand to be divorced.