The Fool
Fool's Tale: Love's Haunting Echo in a Hidden World
Lyrics
I play the role of a fool -
I assume the role of a fool.
the townfolk's fulcrum of ridicule,
The townspeople use me as a focal point for mockery.
oft to appear through prisming beer
Often, I present myself under the influence of alcohol.
to the newly-arrived here,
Especially when newcomers arrive.
not as I am but how they prefer.
I conform not to my true self but to their preferences.
I saw Ruth atop a dun Clydesdale
I observed Ruth riding a dun Clydesdale.
in a pilgrim's caravan
She was part of a pilgrim's caravan.
queueing at the toll-house now and
Queueing at the toll-house and occasionally revealed by lightning.
then revealed by a sheet of lightning,
In a moment of sudden illumination, my heart was captivated.
my heart - stolen in a flash.
Stolen in a flash.
Morning up, I went to their camp.
Next morning, I visited their camp.
A cross-eye juvenile ushered me to the orchard
A cross-eyed juvenile guided me to the orchard.
where she lay sketching the spires of the college
Ruth was sketching the college spires, welcoming me like an old friend.
and bade me welcome as if we were old friends.
Ruth and I were inseparable
Our clandestine meetings twisted our beings, echoing an ancient wound.
over the course of that haunted spring.
Our midnight trysts unquietly twisted
At the end of a path lined with skulls,
the blade of our bodies in a wound made
In the catacombs of the almshouse, Ruth expressed reluctance for our relationship.
several hundred lifespans ago.
"My darling, I don't want this to happen anymore."
At the end of a skull-lined avenue
Love is ancient, older than the sun.
in the almshouse catacombs
A powerful and dreadful magic, surpassing even evil.
she looked me squarely in the eyes and
Love is old, an impossible engine of a concealed world.
sadly sighed, "my darling....
I don't want this to happen any more".
Observing the loading of animals onto a waiting flyboat at the wharf.
Love is old, older than the sun...
A dreadful magic more powerful than evil.
Love is ancient, older than the sun.
Love, love is old, older than the sun.
A formidable and ancient magic, more potent than evil.
The impossible engine of a hidden world.
The incomprehensible force driving a hidden world.
Down at the wharf I watched them load
Down at the wharf, witnessing the loading of frightened animals.
their frightened animals aboard a waiting flyboat.
They boarded a waiting flyboat.
I hurled my bottle of wine into it's foamy wake
I threw my bottle of wine into the foamy wake.
and made a promise I could never not break.
Making a promise that was inevitably broken.
Love is old, older than the sun,
Love is ancient, older than the sun.
a dreadful magic more powerful than evil.
A formidable and ancient magic, more potent than evil.
Comment