'Oh, if only I had known!' <br /> Said the keeper of the inn. <br />'But no hint to me was shown, <br /> And I didn't let them in. <br /> <br />'Yes, a star gleamed overhead, <br /> But I couldn't read the skies, <br />And I'd given every bed <br /> To the very rich and wise. <br /> <br />'And she was so poorly clad, <br /> And he hadn't much to say! <br />But no room for them I had, <br /> So I ordered them away. <br /> <br />'She seemed tired, and it was late <br /> And they begged so hard, that I <br />Feeling sorry for her state, <br /> In the stable let them lie. <br /> <br />'Had I turned some rich man out <br /> Just to make a place for them <br />'Twould have killed, beyond a doubt, <br /> All my trade at Bethlehem. <br /> <br />'Then there came the wise men three <br /> To the stable, with the morn, <br />Who announced they'd come to see <br /> The great King who had been born. <br /> <br />'And they brought Him gifts of myrrh, <br /> Costly frankincense and gold, <br />And a great light shone on her <br /> In the stable, bleak and cold. <br /> <br />'All my patrons, now are dead <br /> And forgotten, but to-day <br />All the world to peace is led <br /> By the ones I sent away <br /> <br />'It was my unlucky fate <br /> To be born that Inn to own, <br />Against Christ I shut my gate— <br /> Oh, if only I had known!'<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-inn-keeper-makes-excuses/
