A Toast to the Inklings (song)

[verse1]
Upon an Oxford street, a common place,
The Eagle and Child kept a quiet pace.
But in a back room, over pints of stout,
Imagination held the floor and cast no doubt.
The Inklings met, an ink-stained fellowship,
With tales of wonder upon every lip.

[Chorus]
So raise a glass, though none may raise it now,
To that small group beneath the Oxford bough.
For in the warmth of friendship, smoke, and ale,
They spun the yarns that make the modern tale.
They left the world of academic dust,
And filled our hearts with wonder, magic, trust.

[verse2]
There, Lewis, with his booming, jovial cheer,
Read from a world where wondrous beasts appear.
The lion's roar, the lamp-post in the snow—
A deeper magic that the children know.
He painted truth in allegorical shade,
A modern myth from ancient stories made.

[Chorus]
So raise a glass, though none may raise it now,
To that small group beneath the Oxford bough.
For in the warmth of friendship, smoke, and ale,
They spun the yarns that make the modern tale.
They left the world of academic dust,
And filled our hearts with wonder, magic, trust.

[verse3]
And Tolkien, steeped in philological lore,
Gave birth to languages unheard before.
From elven song to dwarven, earthy verse,
He built a world, a universe.
He wove the hobbit's tale, the darkling ring,
And of the shadow that the evil bring.

[Chorus]
So raise a glass, though none may raise it now,
To that small group beneath the Oxford bough.
For in the warmth of friendship, smoke, and ale,
They spun the yarns that make the modern tale.
They left the world of academic dust,
And filled our hearts with wonder, magic, trust.

[verse4]
While Barfield, lawyer, philosopher, friend,
Would argue on till conversations' end.
He taught them how to see the world anew,
And cured the snobbery of old and new.
He challenged Lewis with a reasoned fight,
And pushed their fantasies to clearer light.

[Chorus]
So raise a glass, though none may raise it now,
To that small group beneath the Oxford bough.
For in the warmth of friendship, smoke, and ale,
They spun the yarns that make the modern tale.
They left the world of academic dust,
And filled our hearts with wonder, magic, trust.

[verse5]
And Williams, with his breathless, urgent speech,
Drew mystery within a mortal reach.
Of mystic thrillers and of Arthurian might,
He filled the firelit room with occult light.
A darker vision, woven and complex,
Of grace and terror, fate that intersects.

[Chorus]
So raise a glass, though none may raise it now,
To that small group beneath the Oxford bough.
For in the warmth of friendship, smoke, and ale,
They spun the yarns that make the modern tale.
They left the world of academic dust,
And filled our hearts with wonder, magic, trust.

So raise a glass, though none may raise it now,
To that small group beneath the Oxford bough.
For in the warmth of friendship, smoke, and ale,
They spun the yarns that make the modern tale.
They left the world of academic dust,
And filled our hearts wit