The Grief Mistress Lyrics

I hear time howling In the gray tunnels of ages Like hounded dream I'm crawling Through the rusted grills and cages The Gates with statues weeping With faces blackened wild I'm passing slowly creeping Leaving all them behind On their ruined towers Where wishes die denied The bloody axe and flowers In weird dance unite I see indistinct pictures They're real as my fear Pale-faced, thin-fingered creatures On rusted grills appear With terrifying bellows In dirty clown suits One plays the broken cello Another plays the flute Their tunes are hymns of sadness Insanity and grief And guiding light of madness Is their true belief And then appears the Lady Dressed like a princess dead And snakes with eyes still faded Have wrapped around her neck And tears sweet and golden Have burned her tender skin She left all sins forgotten And whispered: "Let me in..." Her whisper paralyses And makes illusions fall Insanity arises And shines above them all My curse, my ancient fellow Made of concrete and tile: Black widows, lovely gallows And Joker's deadly smile Are left for me in cages With horrors of my dreams And funny dying angels With burning violins...