Victor

Victor was a little baby

Into this world he came:

His father took him

On his knee and said

"Don't dishonour the family name."

Victor looked up at his father

Looked up with big round eyes

His father said

"Victor, my only son

Don't you ever tell lies."

It was a frosty December

It wasn't the time for fruits

His father fell dead

Of heart disease

While lacing up his boots.

It was a frosty December

When into his grave he sank

His uncle found Victor

A post at the

Midland Counties Bank

It was a frosty december

Victor was only eighteen

But his figures were neat

And his margins straight

And his cuffs were always clean

He took a room at the Peveril

A respectable boarding-house

And Time watched Victor

Day after day

As a cat will watch a mouse.

Victor went up to his bedroom

Set the alarm bell

Climbed into his bed

Took his Bible and read

Of what happened to Jezebel.

It was the First of April

Anna to the Peveril came

Her eyes, her lips,her breasts

Her hips and her smile

Set men aflame.

It was the Second of April

She was wearing a coat of fur

Victor met her upon the stairs

And fell in love with her.

The first time

He made his proposal

She laughed, said

"I'll never wed":

The second time

There was a pause

Then she smiled

And shook her head.

Anna looked into the mirror

Pouted and gave a frown

Said

"Victor's as dull

As a wet afternoon

But I've got to settle down."

The third time

He made his proposal

As they walked by the Reservoir

She gave him a kiss

Like a blow on the head

Said

"You are my heart's desire."

They were married early in August

She said

"Kiss me, you funny boy"

Victor took her in his arms

And said

"Oh, my Helen of Troy."

The clerks were talking of Anna

The door was just ajar

One said

"Poor old Victor

But where ignorance is bliss

etcetera."

Victor looked up at the sunset

As he stood there all alone

Cried:

"Are you in heaven, Father?"

But the sky said

"Address not known."

Victor looked up at the mountains

The mountains all covered with snow

Cried:

"Are you pleased with me, Father?"

And the answer came back

No.

Victor came to the forest, cried

"Father

Will she ever be true?"

And the oaks and the beeches

Shook their heads

And they answered

"Not to you."

Victor came to the meadow

Where the wind went sweeping by

Cried:"O Father I love her so"

but the wind said

"She must die."

Victor came to the river

Running so deep and so still

Crying

"O Father, what shall I do?"

And the river answered

"Kill."

Anna was sitting at table

Drawing cards from a pack

Anna was sitting at table

Waiting for her husband

To come back.

Victor stood in the doorway

He didn't utter a word;

She said

"What's the matter darling?"

He behaved

As if he hadn't heard.

There was a voice

In his left ear

There was a voice

In his right

There was a voice

At the base of his skull saying

"She must die tonight."

Victor picked up a carving-knife

His features were set and drawn.

Said

"Anna, it would have been

Better for you

If you had not been born."

Anna jumped up from the table

Anna started to scream

But Victor came

Slowly after her

Like a horror in a dream

She dodged behind the sofa

She tore down the curtain rod

But Victor came slowly after her

Said

"Prepare to meet Thy God."

He stood there above the body

He stood there holding the knife

And the blood rand down

The stairs and sang

"I am the Resurrection

And the Life."

They tapped Victor

On the shoulder

They took him away in a van

He sat quiet

As a lump of moss saying

"I am the Son of Man."

Victor sat in a corner

Making a woman of clay.

Saying

"I am the Alpha and Omega

I shall come to judge

The earth one day."