Now the Swan it floated on the English river Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer and the judges watched us from the other side
I told my mother Mother I must leave you preserve my room but do not shed a tear Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you it was half my fault and half the atmosphere
But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame She said at last I was her finest lover and if she withered I would be to blame
The judges said you missed it by a fraction rise up and brace your troops for the attack Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action Oh see the men of action falling back
But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still My falsity had stung me like a hornet The poison sank and it paralysed my will
I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers that they had been deserted from above So on battlefields from here to Barcelona I`m listed with the enemies of love
And long ago she said I must be leaving, Ah but keep my body here to lie upon You can move it up and down and when I`m sleeping Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan
So daily I renew my idle duty I touch her here and there -- I know my place I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty and people call me traitor to my face