Maria Albourne

Come, my lords, the candles shine,
Pour the ruby, pour the wine.
Silken faces, powdered grace,
Every virtue has its place.

Count the jewels, count the rings,
Hear how sweetly treason sings.
Every smile is finely made,
Every truth a masquerade.

Dance, dance, beneath the golden light,
While all your secrets sleep tonight.
Turn, turn, until the morning comes,
And drown your conscience in the drums.

Oh, let the painted heavens fall,
Let shadows gather on the wall.
For when the final music passes,
We shall waltz among the ashes.

There the minister embraces
One whose name he dare not say.
There the widow counts the fortunes
Of the men who passed away.

There the lord whose hands are spotless
Signs a warrant with a smile.
There a girl is sold in marriage
For an acre and a title.

You call it honour.
You call it duty.
You call it order.
Such exquisite words
For such ordinary hunger.

Dance, dance, beneath the golden light,
While all your secrets sleep tonight.
Turn, turn, until the morning comes,
And drown your conscience in the drums.

Oh, let the painted heavens fall,
Let shadows gather on the wall.
For when the final music passes,
We shall waltz among the ashes.

I wore your colours,
I learned your ways,
I sang your praises
For seven years.

I watched your triumphs,
I knew your fears,
I heard the bargains
Behind the cheers.

And now you ask me
Why I smile —
Because I know
Who paid for every stone
Beneath this gilded aisle!

Let every chandelier awaken!
Let every velvet curtain rise!
Let every solemn vow be shaken!
Let every mirror show the lies!

No more the sweetness of surrender,
No more the silence bought with gold!
The music that you paid to silence
Shall be the music you behold!

Dance, dance, beneath the golden light,
Your lovely kingdom ends tonight.
Turn, turn, the hour is drawing near,
The masks have fallen with the year.

Oh, let the painted heavens fall,
Let shadows gather on the wall.
And when the final music passes,
We shall waltz among the ashes.

My lords, my ladies...
Was the evening to your liking?

You left a rose upon the sill,
The winter had not come,
The garden held its colour still,
The air was warm with sun.

You told me spring would find us here,
Where every blossom grows,
But seasons have a way, my dear,
Of taking what we chose.

And I have kept the window wide,
Though all the birds have flown,
As though the wind could turn aside
And bring you safely home.

When the roses turn to snow,
And the rivers cease to flow,
When the stars forget the heavens
And the distant candles glow,

I will keep the love we knew,
Through the years that come and go,
For my heart shall still remember
When the roses turn to snow.

Your portrait hangs beside the door,
Your letters fill a drawer,
The house remembers every step
That crosses it no more.

I do not ask the night for signs,
Nor bargain with the grave,
I only hold the little things
That neither time nor death can save.

And if the years should take my voice,
And all the songs I know,
There is a silence in this house
Where love will always grow.

When the roses turn to snow,
And the rivers cease to flow,
When the stars forget the heavens
And the distant candles glow,

I will keep the love we knew,
Through the years that come and go,
For my heart shall still remember
When the roses turn to snow.

Oh, let the winter take the leaves,
Let frost possess the ground,
There is a place within my heart
Where spring is always found.

And though the world may turn to ash,
And silence claim the air,
No season has the power
To make our love less fair.

When the roses turn to snow,
When the final winds shall blow,
When the halls of kings lie silent
And the ancient rivers slow,

I will keep the love we knew,
Through whatever years may go,
For the heart outlives the garden
When the roses turn to snow.

You left a rose upon the sill.
I have it with me still.

There stands a willow by the well,
Where silver waters flow,
And there I heard my mother tell
Of love lost long ago.

A young man rode beyond the hill
Before the autumn rain,
He swore he'd come when winds were still,
But never came again.

Oh, willow, weep for me,
Beneath the fading sky,
For love that crossed the distant fields
And never told me why.

Oh, water, keep his name,
Where roots and rivers lie,
And carry all the words unsaid
Beneath the evening sky.

The years went by, the seasons turned,
The village children grew,
And every spring the willow burned
With leaves of silver dew.

They told me he had crossed the Fallow,
They told me not to grieve,
But every road beyond the valley
Had stories to deceive.

Oh, willow, weep for me,
Beneath the fading sky,
For love that crossed the distant fields
And never told me why.

Oh, water, keep his name,
Where roots and rivers lie,
And carry all the words unsaid
Beneath the evening sky.

If time could turn the water back,
If roads could lead me home,
I'd follow every lantern track
Through fields where shadows roam.

But time has never learned to wait,
Nor love to understand,
And I have grown beside the gate
With winter in my hands.

Oh, willow, weep for me,
Though years have passed me by,
For love is not a thing that dies
When all its roses dry.

Oh, water, keep his name,
Till earth and heaven part,
For every road he never walked
Still winds around my heart.

There stands a willow by the well,
And there I shall remain.

The gates are open, and the sea comes in.
I gave the key for one man's lying kiss,
And now my city kneels beneath my sin —
Was ever queen so paid for love as this?

My towers were white above the morning water,
My bells rang out across the silver bay;
I was a king's beloved only daughter,
And for one smile I gave it all away.

Sea, take my crown, and my halls, and my name,
Take every bell that rang out at my shame;
Only, when all of my city is gone,
Leave me the lie that I loved him upon.

They curse me now from every drowning steeple,
The mothers lift their children to the sky;
I was their queen, and I have drowned my people,
And still I love the man who made them die.

Sea, take my crown, and my halls, and my name,
Take every bell that rang out at my shame;
Only, when all of my city is gone,
Leave me the lie that I loved him upon.

Then rise, O sea! Rise up and cover me!
Let no one say the Queen... went... free!

When the snow lies on the garden and the candles light the hall,
I will take your hand, my lady, and I'll lead you through the ball;
You will lead me, sir? How gallant. Only mind you keep the beat,
For a lady may forgive a heart, but never trodden feet.

So we vow it in the winter, by the candle and the fire,
That whatever else may perish, we will keep our one desire;
Through the frost and through the Season, through the long nights and the cold,
We will sing this vow together till the two of us are old.

I have had the rose of London and the rubies of the East,
I have sung the great to weeping at a coronation feast;
And I've heard of all your rubies, for you mention them so much —
But a rose that's always talking is a rose too sharp to touch.

So we vow it in the winter, by the candle and the fire,
That whatever else may perish, we will keep our one desire;
Through the frost and through the Season, through the long nights and the cold,
We will sing this vow together till the two of us are old.

And if ever we should quarrel, let the orchestra play on,
Let the people never know it till the two of us are gone;
For the house has paid for love tonight, and love is what they'll see —
Then smile, sir.
I am smiling.
And so are we!