Riul Doamnei - A Christmas Carol lyrics

[STAVE 1:] Marley's Ghost, The Ever-Errant Enchained [STAVE 2:] The First of the Three Spirits, The Pure Enlightened Cold wind had blown And howled through the doors From the north had driven storm Fear had taken form of a guest From shadow born, pale as snow And Marley's words had turned "I wear the chain I forged in life I made it link by link and yard by yard Expect the first tomorrow when the bell tolls one Because you will be haunted by three Spirits" - How can I have slept through A whole day and far into another night? - The quarter was so long The hour itself and nothing else And the curtains of his bed Were drawn aside by a hand Of a strange figure dressed in purest white Breaking out from light, half old half child "I am the Ghost of Christmas Past Your past, rise and walk with me" The darkness and the mist had vanished It was a clear, cold, winter day - Good heaven, I was bred in this place! - "These are but shadows Of the things that have been" The school was not quite deserted A solitary child neglected by his friends Was left there still And Scrooge sat down upon a form and wept to see His poor forgotten self as he used to be And the visit of his little sister, Fan Always a delicate creature Whom a breath might have withered But she died a woman "Let us see another Christmas" And it was Christmas time again It was made plain enough by the dressing of the shops But it was evening and the streets were lighted up The Ghost stopped at a certain warehouse door - I was apprenticed here - Waltz of the Apprentice A ball room as you would desire to see upon a winter's night In came a fiddler with a music-book, in came Mrs Fezziwig In came the three Miss Fezziwigs, beaming and lovable In came the six young followers whose hearts they broke There were more dances and there were forfeits And more dances and there was cake And there was negus, and there was a great piece Of cold roast beef and there was a great piece of cold boiled And there were mince-pies and plenty of beer The fire and a mistletoe wreath and there were red candles Wine, cheers, laughings, happiness Once upon Loss, Regret and Broken Promise He was older now And his face had begun to wear The signs of care and avarice He was not alone But sat by the side of a fair Young girl in mourning dress In whose eyes there were tears "It matters little To you, very little You fear the world too much Another idol has displaced me, a golden one I have seen your nobler aspirations Fall off one by one And I release you with a full heart For the love of him you once were" She left him and they parted - Show me no more! Conduct me home! Why do you delight to torture me? No more! - "One shadow more", exclaimed the Ghost "And now see the family that you have never had" A daughter was standing near the fire with her mother And children asking for Christmas presents When the husband suddenly said: "I saw an old friend of yours this afternoon Mr. Scrooge it was, I pa**ed his office window And he had a candle inside His partner lies upon the point of d**h And there he sat alone, quite alone in the world I do believe" - Leave me Take me back Haunt me no longer - [STAVE 3:] The Second of the Three Spirits, The Serpentine Crowned Serpent, it creeps to man asleep Without any warmth, without any sound Man, he sleeps where serpent awaits Without any awareness, without any care Sitting up in bed to get his thoughts together Scrooge had no occasion to be told That the bell was again upon the stroke of one Now being prepared for almost anything He turned uncomfortably cold When he began to wonder Which of his curtains This new spectre Would draw back He put them every one Aside with his own hands And lying down again Established a sharp look-out All round the bed Five minutes, ten minutes A quarter of an hour went by Yet nothing came A strange voice Called him by his name "Come in and know me better, Man I am the Ghost of Christmas Present Look upon me" - Spirit, conduct me where you will - Dinner of Villains, A Crutch and the Vacant Seat The house fronts looked black enough And the windows blacker Contrasting with the smooth white sheet Of snow upon the roofs It led him straight to his clerk's house Bob Cratchit his name Who had just come home With his son upon his shoulder, Tiny Tim Alas, he bore a little crutch And had his limbs supported by An iron frame The pale hands of misery had gathered this family Among hunger and sickness in a portrait of disgrace A dinner of villains, too many mouths to feed Bob’s voice was tremulous when he told them this: "Tim told me, coming home That he hoped the people saw him In the church because he was a cripple And it might be pleasant to them To remember upon Christmas Day Who made lame beggars walk And blind men see" - Spirit, tell me if Tiny Tim will live - "I see a vacant seat In the poor chimney corner (Carefully preserved) And a crutch without an owner If these shadows remain Unaltered by the Future None other of my race Will find him here" Through the Storm to Man's Orphanage To Scrooge’s horror, looking back He saw the last of the land A frightful range of rocks behind them And his ears were deafened By the thundering of water As it rolled and roared Again the Ghost sped on and on Above the black and heaving sea Being far away from any shore They lighted on a ship Much they saw and far they went In almshouse, hospital and jail In misery’s every refuge It was a long night If it were only a night Looking at the Spirit he noticed that its hair was grey - Are spirits' lives so short? - "My life upon this globe is very brief It ends to-night at midnight" - Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask But I see something strange, not belonging to yourself Protruding from your skirts, is it a foot or a claw? - "It might be a claw for the flesh there is upon it" From the foldings of its robe it brought two children Wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable They knelt down at its feet "They are Man’s, this boy is Ignorance This girl is Want, beware them both But most of all beware this boy For on his brow I see that written which is Doom" - Have they no refuge or resource? - "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?" What then. If they be like to die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population (The bell struck twelve) Scrooge looked about him for the Ghost And saw it not, as the last stroke ceased to vibrate He remembered the prediction of old Jacob Marley And lifting up his eyes beheld a solemn Phantom Draped and hooded, coming like a mist Along the ground, towards him [STAVE 4: ] The Last of the Three Spirits, The Black Hooded The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached When it came, Scrooge bent down upon his knee For in the very air through which this Spirit moved It seemed to scatter gloom and mystery It was shrouded in a deep black garment It left nothing of it visible Save one outstretched hand But for this, it would have been difficult To detach its figure from the night And separate it from the darkness By which it was surrounded - Am I in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come? - The Spirit answered not but pointed onward with its hand - You are about to show me shadows Of the things that have not happened But will happen in the time before us Ghost of the Future, I fear you More than any spectre I have seen - They travelled through time and space And stopped beside different places Where everyone was speaking about The d**h of a rich old man If he had died alone and forgotten Someone was selling out his burial dress And the curtains of his bed after despoiling them From his own corpse and chapel of rest No word of care or sadness to him No prayer and no funeral dirge A tight-fisted hand at the grind-stone A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping Clutching, covetous, old sinner! - Spirit, I see! The case of this man might be my own Merciful Heaven, what is this? - A pale light fell straight upon a bed and on it Plundered, unwept, uncared for was the body of this man A Corpse Unwept, Uncared For and Forgotten Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful d**h set up thine altar here And dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command For this is thy dominion It is not that the hand is heavy and will fall down when released? It is not that the heart and pulse are still? Strike, Shadow, strike And see his good deeds springing from the wound To sow the world with life immortal No voice pronounced these words in Scrooge’s ears The Phantom steady hand was pointed to the head - Spirit, I understand you And I would do it if I could But I have not the power Let me see some tenderness Connected with this d**h Or that dark chamber will be For ever present to me - The Ghost conducted him through several streets Familiar to his feet and as they went along Scrooge looked here and there to find himself But nowhere was he to be seen -Tell me what man that was whom we saw lying dead - The Spirit stopped The hand was pointed elsewhere A churchyard! Here, then The wretched man whose name He had now to learn Lay underneath the ground It was a worthy place Walled in by houses, overrun by gra** and weeds The growth of vegetation’s d**h The Spirit stood among the graves And pointed down to one The Stone of the Neglected Grave - Are these the shadows of the things that will be Or are they shadows of things that may be, only? - Still the Ghost pointed downward To the grave by which it stood - Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends To which, if persevered in, they must lead But if the courses be departed from The ends will change - Scrooge crept towards it Trembling as he went and following the finger Read upon the stone of the neglected grave His own name [STAVE 5: ] The End of It