Blake, Bunyan, Wordsworth and Forest Green
And lo, it came to pass that when the Forest Green fans sang
‘Stand up for the Forest Green’,
All fans throughout the ground and stands,
Stood up.
And when the Forest Green fans sang
‘Sit down for the Forest Green’,
All fans throughout the ground and stands,
Sat down.
Truly, this was a paradisal state of beatitude:
An epiphany where all was a New Lawn of harmony,
Where all division and dissent disappeared
In a blissful unification of opposites,
Where lion stood up with lamb,
And where lamb sat down with lion,
In a self-governing collective of joy;
And when the final whistle blew,
The public address system filled the valleys and hills
With Jerusalem and its effulgent message,
And the football poets and the People’s Republic of Stroud
Did walk upon the mountains green,
In Forest Green,
Far above the dark satanic mills of old Stroud-water –
But even in the midst of heaven, there is temptation,
For it is an arduous path of the pilgrim to the football league:
Past the Wicket Gate, the Slough of Despond,
The Hill of Difficulty, the Valley of Humiliation,
The Shining Light, the River of Death,
The Delectable Mountain,
Vanity Fair,
Half Man Half Biscuit
(For verily, these are the constituent parts of Tranmere Rovers),
If we are to reach the Celestial City,
Where there will be happiness in the by and by,
And quorn pie in the sky,
And we will walk with Wordsworth on Westminster Bridge,
And through the lanes and paths of Nailsworth,
Horsley, Forest Green, Shortwood and Newmarket:
For ‘Earth’ will not have
‘Anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty.’
Details on a performative, celebratory, historical walk to follow if triumphant at Wembley.