Bleak House - Anthony Phillips

Say no word

She watched as she waited

By the iron gate

Veiled in black brocade

Tom was all-alone

She spoke soft but breathless

He took the half-a-crown

And thought how strange

Long ago, she knew a man

Who sailed the seas

And gave her a daughter

Through the vanished years

Fate bestowed a lady’s seat

She honoured it with grace

Hid the part and with it me

Now, she is everything to me

Though I was denied her tenderness

Years spent in gloom

I cried in my room

I believed I’d been quite deserted

But now that I find, she gave everything to me

Until it became quite impossible

Scorn upon scandal

Helpless to handle

She’s bitterly breaking now

Why is my dream disturbed?

Cold cut the wind

We pitched as we tossed

From cobblestone to track

Along the old canal

Fierce came the frost

The stone changed to pasture

Could anyone survive?

Has anybody seen?

Long ago a fox found out

The laid the captain dead at his masthead

Searching everywhere, questioning the wind and trees

I beat the empty air, knowing it has seen her face

Now, I’d give everything to know

Why my flesh and blood must suffer so

Turning and tossing

From river to crossing

Causing great confusion

If she only knew, she was everything to me

Alone now, somewhere, she’s imploring me

Oh, please forgive me

I’ve been so thoughtless

She’s bitterly breaking now

For, she is everything to me

Though I was denied her tenderness

Years spent in gloom

I cried in my room

I believed I’d been quite deserted

But now that I find, she gave everything to me

Until it became quite impossible

Scorn upon scandal

Helpless to handle

I pray that we’re not to late…

Bleak rose the towers

The rain lashed the horses

We found the gate ajar

Her cloak lay in a heap

The captain’s furled his sails

It comes as no surprise

She’s no longer here