From: From the Heart: Three American Women
Volume: Three From Sara
Category: Vocal Music / Art Song
Instrumentation: voice, guitar
Duration: 2 minutes
Difficulty: Upper intermediate for voice; intermediate for guitar
Text / Source: Poem by Sara Teasdale
Publisher: Columbia Music

The Inn of Earth is a song of concern for the world, particularly in relation to hardship and suffering in third-world countries. Baxter gives the poem a jazzy setting whose harmonic color helps portray the coldness and indifference of the world it describes.

The song combines social awareness with expressive musical character, allowing Teasdale’s words to unfold through a sound world that is both lyrical and uneasy. Within Three From Sara, it provides a darker and more urban contrast to the folk-like simplicity of There Will Come Soft Rains.

The vocal part is upper intermediate, while the guitar part is intermediate. Performers should bring out the song’s jazzy inflection while preserving the seriousness of the text and its compassionate concern.