Willow Walk

what is human

there's no sense in the judgment that we make

concerning all the tricks of the old trade

nor in belief that turns out to be fake

in all those things that are fated to fade

the world is as it is and what must come

is less not more than what we'd thought the sum

of what we earn in simple steady pay

but given to us with little delay

we're far too eager and give in to haste

the infant mind attains its highest sway

so what is human ends up most abased

our duty never got an honest shake

but found its honour hidden in the shade

while we were learning good things by mistake

and wondering why none came by to aid

for our relief we did not earn a crumb

while happy others made off with the plum

meanwhile the foolish urged us just to pray

as if that answer were more than cliché

while our best efforts had to be replaced

and matters finished in another way

so what is human ends up most abased

the truth is clear we could not get a break

from anybody here the whole charade

was guaranteed to maximise their take

and in the process our spirits abrade

dumping us all down in the meanest slum

because we were so obviously dumb

we were served up upon a silver tray

trapped and devoured to our immense dismay

our skills dismissed and all of us disgraced

moulded and shaped just like the softest clay

so what is human ends up most abased

prince you observe as we suffer this day

ordering whips our tender backs to flay

you think this moment easily erased

yours is the power and the word today

so what is human ends up most abased

symphony of a thousand

thunder declaring with a mighty noise

what we once knew but later chose to hide

believing we had so few other ploys

and only a small chance to save our pride

this was the the noble sound we came to hear

sublimest product of the engineer

of music there was the full weight of night

being lifted up around us the height

of passion reached in moments and the pace

of dragons felt as if it were their right

we knew it all and knew it all for grace

the calm the strain the skill that he deploys

marks the director as the truest guide

brimful of zest and yet with equipoise

he knows he's got us all here for the ride

to turn us all at once to wolf and deer

and have a world of magic just appear

before our eyes without the power of sight

by mass effect of sound and not of light

no easy thing our plain lives to displace

a thousand voices is a tool of might

we knew it all and knew it all for grace

my eye is on the many girls and boys

in rank behind as all these worlds collide

what do they know how do they have such poise

in the great task in which they are allied

so much depends on voice bright and austere

all deeply human that is very clear

we have full understanding of the rite

and know the meaning all the words incite

into the sacred silence of this space

hope for escape from the old mortal plight

we knew it all and knew it all for grace

prince you have asked about that magic night

and how the mass of sound was got just right

across the world i tell you to your face

you had to be there darkness vanished quite

we knew it all and knew it all for grace

the pressure of recall

now there are echoes now hear silence fall

along with sunset all across the hill

for one short moment shadows on the wall

seem like the symbols of gigantic will

writing in darkest inks the coming night

not as despair but as remaking right

there is so much to do so much to say

our choices not so clear at end of day

but this is duty we are bound to cope

with all the tasks and burdens on our way

for we have nothing if we have not hope

we're told the journey's never for the small

and we don't doubt it there's a monstrous bill

that must be paid and horrors will befall

those who can't argue with sufficient skill

against their masters those with honest sight

have some good chance of seeing the new light

while those whose strategy is to delay

may find there are some other costs to pay

and twists and turns on the trip up the slope

but no great monsters that we'll need to slay

for we have nothing if we have not hope

on crest of mountain there's a merry hall

and those who get there do not come to ill

yet there's no triumph that would be so small

a payment for the effort and goodwill

that we put in nor are we folk of might

to carouse and rejoice on the warm height

just actors in one scene of a long play

torn between tragedy and cabaret

happy enough to have some towels and soap

to clean up at the end of a long day

for we have nothing if we have not hope

prince you may think that we have gone astray

stepped out of line and lost all our cachet

but there's a lot of play left to our rope

we will be watching for the sun's first ray

for we have nothing if we have not hope

for a long year

golden and warm in the december sun

this fading year will pass and be no more

we pause and take account of all that's done

since normal duty includes keeping score

what we must do is often clear and plain

to be repeated and done once again

our task unfinished this mild winter day

is not the simple message we convey

but something awesome born of nature's grace

seen not on mountain nor in ocean spray

the true redemption of the human race

we think we can escape that we can run

some massive distance from the starting door

and then be free but there's no means to shun

the things we are they're with us to the core

clear in the light and won't wash off in rain

that is the fact of our eternal stain

nor is there any word that we might say

to grant us ease nor even to delay

the fact of judgment the truth we must face

is not one we avoid in any way

the true redemption of the human race

the journey starts with us thinking it fun

but none believe that on the final shore

nor think of it in terms of lost and won

of those we love and those we now abhor

we speak of rivers that have found the main

of means by which we might a truth sustain

and understandings of the honest way

including moments that will never stay

but all that comes is part of the whole case

and from that knowledge no true soul will stray

the true redemption of the human race

prince none will wish our poor hopes to betray

and there's no unjust word that you could say

we have direction and we know our place

participants in nature's grand ballet

the true redemption of the human race

chant royal of the scholar and his cat

in hidden corner there's a place for sleep

you know it well and will come out to play

in your good time meanwhile you'll let me keep

my larger vigils on this cloudy day

seeking the wisdoms of a time of pain

with half an eye cocked for the coming rain

and senses focused on approaching night

(we know it's coming though the day is bright)

hands put together purpose that is kind

while every heart is poised for instant flight

into the bright dominion of the mind

the lives of people never seem so deep

as feline hungers in their simple way

you are the wanderers and we the sheep

our normal tasks will seem to your delay

from urgent hunger and there is no gain

from what we're doing that seems to you plain

it does not come within your line of sight

provides you nothing of your household right

the sort of thing that is best left behind

lest it should bring a darkness or a blight

into the bright dominion of the mind

your eye is focused on the things that creep

across the yard that you would wish to slay

we know this and for fortune will not weep

but wonder at the words you'd like to say

if speech were given and you could complain

at being bound in by such a golden chain

as if we punished your for our delight

and thought your chiding visions could indict

our cruelty in keeping you confined

but see you move with happy summer light

into the bright dominion of the mind

prince you might think this subject impolite

and such debate is not the best to cite

yet we must take the pathways that we find

from your dark rule of chaos and old night

into the bright dominion of the mind

chant royal for may day

we did not ask for change but still it came

with waving banner and in angry shout

for then our people showed not calm nor tame

but like a flood after long years of drought

that was the moment when the word was rage

that marked the turning of the ancient page

when cities smouldered and when fields were burned

governors fled and parliaments adjourned

in such a time the truth must come in play

the sacred hour of those who once were spurned

who come from darkness into proper day

no one expects the world will stay the same

nor that the light will once again go out

now that all eyes have seen its cheery flame

and minds have been resolved from fear and doubt

by understanding of the proper wage

now to be gained and nothing will assuage

the incensed feelings of the hearts that turned

truly to freedom as the wild waves churned

on the bright shore and we saw the array

of those once vanished who had now returned

who come from darkness into proper day

the story now is not a silly game

nor is it simply nonsense that we spout

about the ending of all hate and shame

now that the old injustice is thrown out

and a new order walks upon the stage

when ordinary folk may shape the age

a better land may some day be discerned

where each achieves the honest pay they earned

and plain respect when their dark hair turns grey

both simple things as far as we're concerned

who come from darkness into proper day

prince we apologise you were interned

your titles stripped and your petitions spurned

your words ignored and servants gone away

but we are with some other things concerned

who come from darkness into proper day