I went down to the place   Where I knew she lay waiting   Under the marble and the snow   I said, Mother I'm frightened   The thunder and the lightning   I'll never come through this alone   She said, I'll be with you   My shawl wrapped around you   My hand on your head when you go   And the night came on   It was very calm   I wanted the night to go on and on   But she said, Go back to the World   We were fighting in Egypt   When they signed this agreement   That nobody else had to die   There was this terrible sound   And my father went down   With a terrible wound in his side   He said, Try to go on   Take my books, take my gun   Remember, my son, how they lied   And the night comes on   It's very calm   I'd like to pretend that my father was wrong   But you don't want to lie, not to the young     We were locked in this kitchen   I took to religion   And I wondered how long she would stay   I needed so much   To have nothing to touch   I've always been greedy that way   But my son and my daughter   Climbed out of the water   Crying, Papa, you promised to play   And they lead me away   To the great surprise   It's Papa, don't peek, Papa, cover your eyes   And they hide, they hide in the World     Now I look for her always   I'm lost in this calling   I'm tied to the threads of some prayer   Saying, When will she summon me   When will she come to me   What must I do to prepare   When she bends to my longing   Like a willow, like a fountain   She stands in the luminous air   And the night comes on   And it's very calm   I lie in her arms and says, When I'm gone   I'll be yours, yours for a song     Now the crickets are singing   The vesper bells ringing   The cat's curled asleep in his chair   I'll go down to Bill's Bar   I can make it that far   And I'll see if my friends are still there   Yes, and here's to the few   Who forgive what you do   And the fewer who don't even care   And the night comes on   It's very calm   I want to cross over, I want to go home   But she says, Go back, go back to the World