WALSAURUS
Creatures of Grief & Loss
Lyrics
The words
that shaped the sound.
These lyrics are more than words — they are the breath behind the melody,
the stories whispered beneath each note.
Bury me beneath the willow
Traditional
My heart is sad and I am lonely
For the only one I love
When shall I see her oh no never ’Til we meet in heaven above
Oh bury me beneath the willow
Yes, Under the weeping willow tree So she may know where I am sleeping
And perhaps she’ll weep for me
They told me that she did not love me
I could not believe it was true
Until the Angels softly whispered
She has proven untrue to you
Oh bury me beneath the willow
Yes, Under the weeping willow tree So she may know where I am sleeping
And perhaps she’ll weep for me
Tomorrow was to be our wedding day
But, oh lord where can she be
She’s out courting with another
And she cares no more for me
Oh bury me beneath the willow
Yes, Under the weeping willow tree So she may know where I am sleeping
And perhaps she’ll weep for me
And perhaps she’ll weep for me
I ‘ll bury thee beneath the willow,
beneath the weeping willow tree,
so I will know where you'll be/he is sleeping
and perhaps I will weep for thee
Hope is the thing with feathers
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And Never stops at all
And sweetest in the gale is heart; And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And Never stops at all
I’ve heart it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
it asked a crumb of me.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And Never stops at all
And Never stops at all
Do not stand at my grave and weep
Clare Harner (1909-1979)
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not dead
I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain
When you awaken in the mornings hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there.
I did not die.
Mercy
Frank Boeijen (1957)
We ask for mercy
We ask for mercy
We collided
and you fell
Some form of justice
Fragile you
Under your bike
As a father
What do you know
That the earth is flat
That there is a God
That the Creation is magnificent
We ask for mercy
We ask for mercy
We ask for mercy
A certain death will come
And at that moment
I will think of your eyes
Your brown eyes
It is me Father’s back slightly arched
Head’s up dad!
How you walked beside me
You wave me goodbye
Do not be afraid
Have no fear
We ask for mercy
We ask for mercy
We ask for mercy
Because I could not stop for death
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
Because I could not stop for death He kindly stopped for me
The carriage held but just ourselves
And immortality
We slowly drove
He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too
For his civility
We passed the school,
Where children strove
At recess in the Ring
We passed the fields of gazing grain
We passed the setting sun
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground
The roof was scarcely visible
The cornice in the ground
Since then ’tis centuries and yet Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses heads Were toward eternity
Because I could not stop for death He kindly stopped for me
The carriage held but just ourselves
And immortality
Stop all the clocks
Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973)
Stop!
Stop All the Clocks
Cut off the telephone
Prevent the dog from barking
With a juicy bone
Silence the pianos
And with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin
Let the mourners come
Let aeroplanes circle
Moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky
the message he’s dead
Put crepe bows
Round the white necks from public doves
Let the traffic police men
Wear black cotton gloves
He was my north
My south, my east, my west
My Working Week
My Sunday rest
My noon, my midnight
My talk, my song;
I thought that love last for ever
I was wrong
The stars are not wanted now:
Put out every one
Pack up the moon
And dismantle the sun
Pour away the ocean
And sweep up the wood
For nothing now can
Ever come to any good
Time has told me
Nick Drake (1948-1974)
Time has told me
You're a rare, rare find
A troubled cure
For a troubled mind
And time has told me not to ask for more
For someday our ocean will find its shore
So, I'll leave the ways that are making me be
What I really don't want to be
Leave the ways that are making me love
What I really don't want to love
Time has told me
You came with the dawn
A soul with no footprint
A rose with no thorn
Your tears they tell me
There's really no way
Of ending your troubles
With things you can say
And time will tell you
To stay by my side
To keep on trying
'Til there's no more to hide
So leave the ways that are making you be
What you really don't want to be
Leave the ways that are making you love
What you really don't want to love
Time has told me
You're a rare, rare find
A troubled cure
For a troubled mind
And time has told me not to ask for more
For some day our ocean will find its shore
Alone
Maya Angelou (1928-2014)
Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don’t believe I’m wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
There are some millionaires
With money they can’t use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They’ve got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
One for sorrow
Traditional
Devil Devil I defy thee
Devil Devil I defy thee
One’s for sorrow
Two’s for joy
Three’s for a girl
And four’s for a boy
Five’s for silver
Six for gold
Seven’s for a secret never told
Devil Devil I defy thee
Devil Devil I defy thee
Eight for a wish
Nine for a kiss
Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss
Eleven for health
Twelve for wealth
Thirteen beware it’s the devil himself
Fourteen for endless love
Devil Devil I defy thee
Devil Devil I defy thee
Fifteen for a dove
Sixteen for the chime of a bell Seventeen for the last words Eighteen to be safe from hell Nineteen for the angels
Twenty for the ferryman
Twenty one for the end
Devil Devil I defy thee
Devil Devil I defy thee
Love constant beyond death
FranciscoFrancisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas (1580-1645)
Though my eyes be closed by the final
Shadow that sweeps me off on the blank white day
And thus my soul be rendered up
By Fawning time to hastening death
The Body that was prison to a god Veins that fuelled such fire
The body that was prison to a god Marrow that glorious burned
Yet memory will not abandon love
On the shore where first it burned
My flame can swim through coldest water And will not bend to laws severe
The body that was prison to a god Veins that fuelled such fire
The body that was prison to a god Marrow that glorious burned
The body they will leave
Through not it cares
Ash they will be filled with meaning
Dust they ‘ll be
The body that was prison to a god Veins that fuelled such fire
The body that was prison to a god Marrow that glorious burned
