When Eden Sank to Grief
"Has man always inhabited a world like the present, where nothing is linked together, where virtue is without genius, and genius without honor; where the love of order is confounded with a taste for oppression, and the holy rites of freedom with a contempt of law; where the light thrown by conscience on human actions is dim, and where nothing seems to be any longer forbidden or allowed, honorable or shameful, false or true?"
-Alexis de Toqueville
Listen, my children. Draw closer, come near.
For a tale of tragedy you shall now hear:
A fair maiden's death in our own little town;
Blindly struck down in her wedding night gown.
I remember that night, t'was some time ago
(But its exact date even I do not know),
When the the townspeople gathered, the young and the old,
To observe ancient rituals with eyes, so bold.
At the altar, alone, stood the new groom to be.
He was handsome and bright, a grand thing to see.
Gaily he stood there, awaiting the time,
When his lover would enter, a character sublime.
And thus sang the crowd:
"Oh! Fa la la la-la, come hither! Don't dally!
There's love to be had down here in the valley!"
Then the clock stuck nine, ten, eleven, and twelve.
The people grew restless, began to inquire and delve:
Could it be? That she will leave him at the altar?
Could it be? That her resolve should now faulter?
Clambering o'er each other to get to the door,
Went the old and the young, the rich and the poor.
Down the street they then raced, straight to the father's house,
But all in the dwelling was quiet, not a soul there did grouse.
The groom sprang from their midst, for all to see,
And cried "My love, my love! Have you abandoned me?"
Then the lights came on, and the door was opened,
To reveal the father, with his soul clearly broken.
The crowd surged forward, and pressed into the 'bode,
And the tide of this human surge the groom rode
Right into the room where his dear lover lay,
Just to hear her say: "He is here! My killer, verily I say!"
Recoiling in shock all the people fled,
Leaving the young man alone with the dead.
And none were there as he sat, and weeped
For the maiden who must now eternally sleep.
And thus the crowd sang:
"Oh! La da da da-da, flee hither! Don't dally!
There's death to be seen down here in the valley!"
And the question that arose everyone's lips
Was 'Who could be the one that the evidence fit?'
The policemen were baffled, the dectectives were too,
It's quite safe to say, there was scarcely a clue.
But soon came the day, without any solace,
To put our lady away who bore the pale face.
Their she lay all exposed, enshrouded in silk,
With innocence to guard against the world's ilk..
And the people looked on, but soon looked away,
For their hearts strangely... Trembled that day.
They couldn't quite place it, couldn't quite name
Just what had happened to that fair, little dame.
Time did not quicken, it somehow slowed down,
As Heaven looked on to our small, gathered town.
But suddendly a figure then burst from the crowd:
The groom! Who with his last, dying gasp, cried a-loud:
"Libertas is dead! And we, her killers!"
And thus the belfry sang:
"Oh! Fol dol dol-doly, cling to what is holy!"
Oh! Tra la la-lally, lest you feel your folly!"
__________
I mean for this to be read twice, the second time with the knowledge of the maiden's ide tity.
