Merlin's Lament

In a castle keep, in a vault of stone, in a house at the end of the lane

And old man weeps in his door alone and he sings out this mournful refrain

She will not come back, she will not come back

Though the mountains fall down to the sea

And the sky burns to cinders and the river runs black

She will not come back to me

No lightnin' rede from his books of lore, and the staff in the corner, no fire

And the crystal ball always bright before is grey as the dust of desire

She will not come back, she will not come back

Though he call on the powers that be

They will cipher this message in his cold zodiac

She will not come back to me

And joy my love was a dancin spring, and life was the touch of her lips

And a brook ran mad to my cave downstream from the miracle hills of her hips

She will not come back, she will not come back

Though the stars hang their tears in the trees

And tireless Orion lies spent in his tracks

She will not come back

She will not come back

She will not come back to me