The Sorrowful Wife
Eclipsed Vows and Shifting Seasons: The Tale of a Sorrowful Wife
Lyrics
I married my wife on the day of the eclipse
The narrator married their wife on the day of an eclipse.
Our friends awarded her courage with gifts
Their friends recognized the wife's bravery with gifts.
Now as the nights grow longer and the season shifts
As time passes and seasons change, the nights grow longer.
I look to my sorrowful wife
The narrator observes their sorrowful wife.
Who is quietly tending her flowers
The wife is quietly taking care of her flowers.
Who is quietly tending her
Repeated line, emphasizing the wife's quiet dedication.
The water is high on the beckoning river
The water level in the river is high and beckoning.
I made her a promise I could not deliver
The narrator made a promise they couldn't fulfill for the wife.
And the cry of the birds sends a terrible shiver
The cry of birds evokes a chilling feeling in the narrator and the wife.
Through me and my sorrowful wife
The sorrowful state is shared between the narrator and the wife.
Who is shifting the furniture around
The wife is rearranging the furniture, possibly symbolizing a change or attempt to find comfort.
Who is shifting the furniture around
Repeated line, emphasizing the wife's actions.
Now we sit beneath the knotted Yew
The narrator and the wife sit under a knotted Yew tree.
And the bluebells bob up around our shoes
Bluebells are blooming around them.
The task of remembering the telltale clues
They're trying to remember significant signs or hints together.
Goes to my sorrowful wife
The responsibility of remembering falls on the sorrowful wife.
Who is counting the days on her fingers
The wife is counting days on her fingers, possibly waiting for something.
Who is counting the days on her
Repeated line, emphasizing the wife's action of counting.
Come on and help me baby
Repetition and variation on the themes of blindness, foolishness, and the plea for help. The narrator expresses regret, a lack of understanding or insight, and a desire for assistance or redemption.
Come on now
-Come on and help me baby
-I was blind
-The grass here grows long and high
-Twists right up to the sky
-White clouds roll on by
-Come on now and help me babe
-I was blind
-I was a fool babe
-I was blind
-A loose wind last night blew down
-Black trees bent to the ground
-Their blossoms made such a sound
-That I could not even hear myself think babe
-I was blind
-I was a fool babe
-I was a blind fool, babe
-I was a fool babe
-I was blind babe
-I was a fool babe
-I was a blind fool, babe
-I was a fool
-Blind babe
-Blind babe
-Blind babe
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