To the cold and ever turning sky
we scream the brutal question, "why?"
But the soul is locked in worthless strife
the heart cries for poison as if for life
Lungs groan as if about to break
and desperate minds swear they will take
a drop of wine, for wine can bless
its victims with forgetfulness;
Draw the moon and starlight near
Put out the fire of what was dear
But through this mist we must, and can
recover and recall a man
who, being soothed and smoothed by wine
declared his life and world fine
but, while others were asleep,
wandered through the streets to weep

The noble, locked in crumbling towers, wail
that love can never win, because it clings
to failures, which time has shown will fail;
A man beneath a broken tavern sings
what wine and woe have taught: we still can sail
the sea of bitterness that each heart brings
and like the lonely desperate for the shore
return to find that loveliness once more

And in the forest, someone laid
his very soul at Beauty's feet
His raging blood made him afraid
but how the air she breathed was sweet!
And when all Beauty turned around
and frail blood fell to raging fears
he went back to the shore, and found
he'd joined an exodus of tears

And in between the moon and sea
the wind sings so delightfully
yet we must hold the memory
of what was once, and cannot be

The forest is dark, but dwelling there
is one of many silent heartaches
which I can hardly bear
and one of many silent heartbreaks
which I can never share
and all the secret longings which we can't explain
except to say they're soaked in pain

Though my laughter may suggest a lie
there are many things I have not said
because I'm embarrassed, and shy
And, like all men, I am afraid
that nothing is ever as it seems
but for years I've watched you walk through dreams
and felt an urge to cry

We smile and suffer. That alone is real.
Within our breasts flow wounds which never heal
These wounds measure my every action
and hold the traces of reaction
under a heartless seal
Yet the love I speak is a meaningless fraction
of the love I truly feel