who now would mourn the elegance now past
the days of ease and music and sweet dance
all swept away by brutal truth's advance
into the maelstrom the old has been cast
no more will debs and dandies lightly prance
who now would mourn the elegance now past
the servants will keep silence till the last
and then will leave without a backward glance
leaving the masters to old change and chance
who now would mourn the elegance now past
we will not leave unchanged from this sad place
no terror's left to frighten those who dare
we're not the glory of the human race
each of us wishes we could leave some trace
of who we were hanging bright in the air
we will not leave unchanged from this sad place
we shed all satin and we shed all lace
still we will not be either cold or bare
we''re not the glory of the human race
when we are gone we'll leave behind no space
nor will the world be less stark or less fair
we will not leave unchanged from this sad place
our hands are suited not to gun or mace
nor to such weapons as the great may spare
we're not the glory of the human race
the plainest truth is seen in every face
lineaments of honesty and care
we will not leave unchanged from this sad place
we're not the glory of the human race
on a day like this
we hope for yet more soft rain
autumnal fullness
branches sway in breeze
clounds mass thickly above us
we still need the rain
yellow in the green
and red maples have now turned
winter is coming
if stories are told
on such rainy days
we might yet grow old
knowing better ways
no sort of measure
even of plain time
no hidden treasure
to fill out the rhyme
a kind of magic
we have required
it's never tragic
to see them fired
one horse and rider
galloping so fast
a crawling spider
survives the great blast
this music flowing
filling up each heart
the maples glowing
will each play their part
there is a cancer
we can't ever cure
to give the answer
means we're not pure
the gate is broken
this we remember
the lie is spoken
truth is an ember
we name the teacher
who gives us all hope
we leave the preacher
hanging on a rope
no time left to pause
no world left to choose
we suffer the laws
and we win or lose
the answer comes to us in a great roar
the crowd is chanting and the leader smiles
we have been once more taken by his wiles
he is the one who truly knows the score
when we awaken we'll be truly sore
the lies will mount up in gigantic piles
while we're distracted by the changing styles
and then we'll find ourselves again at war
we have been trained to listen for the drum
to let the martial music guide our sense
and when we hear it played to sing and yell
we're never asked to understand the sum
of all the pains and the torments intense
that turn our little happiness to hell
the engraved letters gleam with secret fire
there's never reason to accept the night
while still there is one scintilla of light
we will not listen to the earthly choir
that counsels us to silence or to flight
the engraved letters gleam with secret fire
struggle leads us unto places higher
and we must claim the standard as our right
we cannot run and can't avoid the fight
the engraved letters gleam with secret fire
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}