The Ballad of Reading Gaol- Psychotropic

[00:00.69]He did not wear his scarlet coat, [00:03.97]For blood and wine are red, [00:06.63]And blood and wine were on his hands [00:09.16]When they found him with the dead, [00:11.56]The poor dead woman whom he loved, [00:14.32]And murdered in her bed. [00:16.62] [00:18.08]He walked amongst the Trial Men [00:19.72]In a suit of shabby grey; [00:21.71]A cricket cap was on his head, [00:23.32]And his step seemed light and gay; [00:26.43]But I never saw a man who looked [00:28.46]So wistfully at the day. [00:29.74] [00:30.42]I never saw a man who looked [00:31.74]With such a wistful eye [00:33.70]Upon that little tent of blue [00:35.73]Which prisoners call the sky, [00:38.07]And at every drifting cloud that went [00:40.61]With sails of silver by. [00:41.56] [00:43.15]I walked, with other souls in pain, [00:45.95]Within another ring, [00:49.16]And was wondering if the man had done [00:50.79]A great or little thing, [00:52.99]When a voice behind me whispered low, [00:55.83]"That fellow's got to swing." [00:57.06] [00:57.82]Dear Christ! the very prison walls [01:01.84]Suddenly seemed to reel, [01:03.71]And the sky above my head became [01:05.66]Like a casque of scorching steel; [01:08.74]And, though I was a soul in pain, [01:11.30]My pain I could not feel. [01:12.51] [01:13.98]I only knew what hunted thought [01:16.27]Quickened his step, and why [01:17.45]He looked upon the garish day [01:20.19]With such a wistful eye; [01:22.26]The man had killed the thing he loved [01:25.24]And so he had to die. [01:26.43] [01:29.50]Yet each man kills the thing he loves [01:31.89]By each let this be heard, [01:34.32]Some do it with a bitter look, [01:36.16]Some with a flattering word, [01:38.38]The coward does it with a kiss, [01:40.26]The brave man with a sword! [01:41.35] [01:42.78]Some kill their love when they are young, [01:44.72]And some when they are old; [01:46.64]Some strangle with the hands of Lust, [01:48.95]Some with the hands of Gold: [01:51.35]The kindest use a knife, because [01:53.32]The dead so soon grow cold. [01:54.33] [01:56.57]Some love too little, some too long, [01:58.58]Some sell, and others buy; [02:00.18]Some do the deed with many tears, [02:02.99]And some without a sigh: [02:05.37]For each man kills the thing he loves, [02:08.74]Yet each man does not die. [02:12.02]He does not die a death of shame [02:13.80]On a day of dark disgrace, [02:16.04]Nor have a noose about his neck, [02:17.84]Nor a cloth upon his face, [02:20.28]Nor drop feet foremost through the floor [02:22.33]Into an empty place [02:23.33] [02:25.40]He does not sit with silent men [02:27.47]Who watch him night and day; [02:29.48]Who watch him when he tries to weep, [02:31.30]And when he tries to pray; [02:33.37]Who watch him lest himself should rob [02:35.32]The prison of its prey. [02:36.43] [02:38.09]He does not wake at dawn to see [02:39.82]Dread figures throng his room, [02:41.97]The shivering Chaplain robed in white, [02:44.59]The Sheriff stern with gloom, [02:47.00]And the Governor all in shiny black, [02:48.78]With the yellow face of Doom. [02:49.79] [02:51.67]He does not rise in piteous haste [02:54.65]To put on convict-clothes, [02:56.26]While some coarse-mouthed Doctor gloats, and notes [02:59.81]Each new and nerve-twitched pose, [03:02.01]Fingering a watch whose little ticks [03:04.35]Are like horrible hammer-blows. [03:05.35] [03:07.68]He does not know that sickening thirst [03:10.09]That sands one's throat, before [03:11.78]The hangman with his gardener's gloves [03:14.04]Slips through the padded door, [03:16.42]And binds one with three leathern thongs, [03:20.03]That the throat may thirst no more. [03:23.89] [03:25.29]He does not bend his head to hear [03:28.54]The Burial Office read, [03:31.73]Nor, while the terror of his soul [03:32.68]Tells him he is not dead, [03:34.44]Cross his own coffin, as he moves [03:37.95]Into the hideous shed. [03:39.02] [03:39.55]He does not stare upon the air [03:41.32]Through a little roof of glass; [03:43.16]He does not pray with lips of clay [03:46.35]For his agony to pass; [03:48.40]Nor feel upon his shuddering cheek [03:51.51]The kiss of Caiaphas. [03:53.20] [03:54.99]There is no chapel on the day [03:56.93]On which they hang a man: [03:59.38]The Chaplain's heart is far too sick, [04:02.12]Or his face is far too wan, [04:04.72]Or there is that written in his eyes [04:06.82]Which none should look upon. [04:08.17] [04:09.93]So they kept us close till nigh on noon, [04:12.16]And then they rang the bell, [04:13.66]And the Warders with their jingling keys [04:15.83]Opened each listening cell, [04:18.11]And down the iron stair we tramped, [04:21.05]Each from his separate Hell. [04:22.38] [04:23.98]Out into God's sweet air we went, [04:26.12]But not in wonted way, [04:28.29]For this man's face was white with fear, [04:30.65]And that man's face was grey, [04:33.13]And I never saw sad men who looked [04:36.02]So wistfully at the day. [04:37.48] [04:40.07]The Warders strutted up and down, [04:42.69]And watched their herd of brutes, [04:45.34]Their uniforms were spick and span, [04:47.44]And they wore their Sunday suits, [04:49.91]But we knew the work they had been at [04:52.89]By the quicklime on their boots. [04:54.60] [04:55.47]For where a grave had opened wide, [04:58.17]There was no grave at all: [05:00.60]Only a stretch of mud and sand [05:03.35]By the hideous prison-wall, [05:05.47]And a little heap of burning lime, [05:08.57]That the man should have his pall. [05:09.59] [05:11.32]For he has a pall, this wretched man, [05:13.32]Such as few men can claim: [05:16.20]Deep down below a prison-yard, [05:18.57]Naked for greater shame, [05:20.59]He lies, with fetters on each foot, [05:23.77]Wrapt in a sheet of flame! [05:24.83] [05:26.83]And all the while the burning lime [05:29.67]Eats flesh and bone away, [05:32.00]It eats the brittle bone by night, [05:34.28]And the soft flesh by the day, [05:36.85]It eats the flesh and bones by turns, [05:40.48]But it eats the heart alway. [05:43.51] [05:45.53]In Reading gaol by Reading town [05:47.74]There is a pit of shame, [05:49.79]And in it lies a wretched man [05:51.68]Eaten by teeth of flame, [05:54.29]In burning winding-sheet he lies, [05:56.65]And his grave has got no name. [05:58.45] [05:59.70]And there, till Christ call forth the dead, [06:02.73]In silence let him lie: [06:05.04]No need to waste the foolish tear, [06:07.01]Or heave the windy sigh: [06:09.32]The man had killed the thing he loved, [06:12.77]And so he had to die. [06:14.50] [06:15.36]And all men kill the thing they love, [06:17.66]By all let this be heard, [06:20.26]Some do it with a bitter look, [06:22.16]Some with a flattering word, [06:24.87]The coward does it with a kiss, [06:27.29]The brave man with a sword! [06:29.66] [06:34.39]