It’s eighteen years since the loud cicadas Made us leave our imperilled shores Such a ragged band of true Crusaders To join or father in the War of Wars
We came at last to the field of battle Near the waters of the endless Lethe (Leith) We heard proud Joy make her sistrum rattle Against the fearsome ranks of grief
And then spoke Joy most grievously “Abandon hope and follow me” Responded Grief so joyfully “Abandon hope and follow me”
Meantime we’ll see three forests rise and fall in mulch and rind-rust We’ll see the woodsmen turn and fly and the Devil take the hindmost And you’ll call on your inmost scorn to lay upon their babies I’ll call upon my opiate wand to lay upon their ladies
And we’ll see three cities form and rise and crumble down to fine dust We’ll see the Burghers turn and fly and the Devil take the hindmost Embalm one half in chamberlye and abandoned in some gully Half hung on the gallows high for folly and vainglory
I’ll stand in the fallen masonry and say my sermons seven For all the penitents in Hell and the celebrants in Heaven And you’ll kneel in the crowded marketplace and draw your vast Mandala For Zoroaster and Mithras, Jehovah and for Allah A tithe of skin, a toll of bone, a bloody libel burning In Jericho and Babylon, eternally returning Eternally returning, eternally returning Eternally returning, eternally returning
Then Joy fell slowly out of focus To meet with Grief in the Elysian Meres From out her breast there grew a broken crocus From Grief there grew a rosary of tears
They grew to form a swarm of hornets They took the air and they swarmed as one This one apported three fire-garnets And sealed the rising of the unconquered sunTeksty umieszczone na naszej stronie są własnością wytwórni, wykonawców, osób mających do nich prawa.
