Darby's Castle
Darby's Striving Dream: A Tale of Love, Labor, and Ruin
Lyrics
See the ruin on the hill where the smoke is hanging still
Observing a ruined structure on a hill where smoke lingers.
Like an echo of an age long forgotten
Comparing the scene to an echo of a distant, forgotten era.
There's a story of a home crushed beneath those blackened stones
Narrating a tale of a home crushed beneath blackened stones.
And the roof that fell before the beams were rotten
Describing the collapse of the roof before the beams decayed.
Seems old Darby loved his wife and he labored all his life
Noting Darby's love for his wife and lifelong labor for her.
To provide her with material possessions
Highlighting Darby's efforts to provide material possessions.
And he built for her a home of the finest wood and stone
Mentioning the construction of a home with fine wood and stone.
And the building soon became his sole obsession
Indicating Darby's obsession with the building he created.
Oh it took three hundred days for the timbers to be raised
Noting the 300 days it took to raise the timber for the house.
And the silhouette was seen for miles around
Describing the noticeable silhouette of the house from a distance.
And the gables reached as high as the eagles in the sky
Highlighting the height of the gables, reaching the sky like eagles.
But it only took one night to bring it down when Darby's castle tumbled to the ground
Expressing the sudden collapse of Darby's castle in one night.
Though they shared the common bed there was precious little said
Describing a lack of communication in the marital bed.
In the moments that were set aside for sleeping
Emphasizing Darby's preoccupation with dreams of future construction.
For his busy dreams were filled with the rooms he'd yet to build
Noting Darby's ignorance of Helen's weeping during those moments.
And he never heard young Helen Darby weeping
Describing Darby's awareness of a sound, prompting investigation.
Then one night he heard the sound as he laid his pencil down
Explaining Darby's discovery and reaction to the situation.
And he traced it to her door and turned the handle
Detailing the moonlit scene revealing two bodies entangled.
And the pale light of the moon through the window of the room
Describing the pale moonlight casting shadows in the room.
Split the shadows where two bodies lay in tangle
Depicting the poignant moment of discovery.
Oh it took three hundred days
(Repetition of the previous line)
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