Lyrics The Fabled Hare - Maddy Prior

The Fabled Hare

I shall goe until a hare
Wi sorrow and such mickle care
I sall goe in the devil’s name
An while I go home again
I am ruled by the moon
I move under her mantle
I am the symbol of her moods
Of rebirths cycle
I am companion to the Gods
I can conceive while I am pregnant
I call the dawn and spring in
I am the advent
I bring life from water
In a cup that must be broken
I whisper to the bursting egg
I’m Aestre’s token
Scent of dog, scent of man
Closer closer, smell them coming
Hot breath, hot death
Closer closer, hard the running
Tongues pant, hearts thump
Closer closer, through the fields
Teeth snap, bones crack
Closer closer, at my heels
Nearer, yet and nearer
I can hear the hunter’s knife
He is running for my dinner
I am running for my life
Winter wakeneth al my care
Nou this leues waxeth bare;
Ofte y sike ant mourne sare
When hit cometh in my thoht
Of this worldes joie hou hit geth al to noht
Man sprays no weeds
The scythe cuts, the corn bleeds
Leverets trapped in a harvest blade
'Tis the time of man, the hare said
Here’s the tractor, here’s the plough
And where shall we go now
We’ll lie in forms as still as the dead
In the open fields, the hare said
No cover but the camouflage
From the winter’s wild and bitter rage
All our defence is in our legs
We run like the wind, the hare said
I’ve been cursed, I’ve been despised
As a witch with darkest powers
I shall goe until a hare
I’ve been hunted trapped and punished
In these my darkest hours
Wi' sorrow and such mickle care
I’ve been thrown into the fire
But I do not fear it
I shall goe until a hare
It purifies and resurrects
And I can bear it
Wi' sorrow and such mickle care
I’ve outrun dogs and foxes
And I’ve dodged the tractor wheels
I shall goe until a hare
I’ve survived your persecution
And your ever-changing fields
Wi' sorrow and such mickle care
I will run and run forever
Where the wild fields are mine
I shall goe until a hare
I’m a symbol of endurance
Running through the mists of time
Wi' sorrow and such mickle care