THE VISION BLEAK LYRICS

1. A Curse Of The Grandest Kind

When the moon is on the wave,
And the glow-worm in the grass,
And the meteor on the grave,
And the wisp on the morass
When the falling stars are shooting,
And the answer'd owls are hooting,
And the silent leaves are still
In the shadow of the hill,
Shall my soul be upon thine,
With a power and with a sign.

Though thy slumber may be deep,
Yet thy spirit shall not sleep;
There are shades which will not vanish,
There are thoughts thou canst not banish,
By a power to thee unknown,
Thou canst never be alone;
Thou art wrapt as with a shroud,
Thou art gather'd in a cloud;
And for ever shalt thou dwell
In the spirit of this spell.

Though thou seest me not pass by,
Thou shalt feel me with thine eye
As a thing that, though unseen,
Must be near thee, and hath been;
And when in that secret dread
Thou hast turn'd around thy head,
Thou shalt marvel I am not
As thy shadow on the spot,
And t he power which thou dost feel
Shall be what thou dost feel
Shall be what thou must conceal.

And a magic voice and verse
Hath baptized thee with a curse;
And a spirit of the air
Hath begirt thee with a snare;
In the wind there is a voice
Shall forbid thee to rejoice;
And to thee shall night deny
All the quiet of her sky;
And the day shall have a sun,
Which shall make thee wish it done.

From thy false tears I did distil
An essence which hath strength to kill;
From thy own heart I then did wring
The black blood in its blackest spring;
From thy own smile I snatch'd the snake,
For there it coil'd as in a brake;
From thy own smile I snatch'd the snake,
For there it coil'd as in a brake;
From thy own lip I drew the the charm
Which gave all these their chiefest harm;
In proving every poison known,
I found the strongest was thine own.

By thy cold breast and serpent smile,
By thy unfathom'd gulfs of guile,
By that most seeming virtuos eye,
By thy shut soul's hypocrisy;
By the perfection of thine art
Which pass'd for human thine own heart;
By thy delight in others' pain,
And by thy brotherhood of Cain,
I call upon thee! and compel
Thyself to be thy proper hell!

And on thy head I pour the vial
Which doth devote this trial;
Nor to slumber, nor to die,
Shall be in thy destiny;
Though thy death shall still seem near
To thy wish, but as a fear;
Lo! the spell now works around thee,
And the clankless chain hath bound thee;
O'er thy heart and brain together
Hath the word been pass'd - now wither!

2. Descend Into Maelstrom

The old man before you
Is not reality
What I saw and tell you so
None deemed it to be true

A cry of dismay
Turned my hair into gray
And the odour of the sea
For never shall abandon me

The thunderous, raging void
In which all oceans end
Took me by supernal force
Into the Maelstrom I descend!

Flashing lights! Crushing sea!
Thunder and storm came unto me!
Blackened clouds and copper moon
Eternity woke from its slumber...

All day turned black - and night became
The deeper I was swallowed the more was still...
A descent into maelstrom
A descent into maelstrom

Just how I could escape
To this day I know not
My Brig was torn to shreds
And so the fishers lot!

In my deep despair
I jumped into its eye
It chewed me up and spit me out
And so I found my way up high!

Flashing lights! Crushing sea!
Thunder and storm came unto me!
Blackened clouds and copper moon
Eternity woke from its slumber...

All day turned black - and night became
The deeper I was swallowed the more was still...
A descent into maelstrom
A descent into maelstrom

3. I Dined With The Swans

Night... silent night
Snow on the roof
My breath turned to ice
My mind was aloof

Cold winter moon
Shone through the reed
Glistering frost
What night for my deed!

Onward and onward
Away from the light
to the lake by the grove
To a beautiful white

Ah - what innocence
The nature of grace
But there shall be blood
I would mire this place!

White turned to red
As I tore them apart
I dined with the swans
I drank from their heart

Their fevering cries
Dulled with a crack
I broke all their spines
I drank from their neck

As I came back to myself
I heard not one sound
Feathers fell like snow
Unto cold sparkling ground

I divided from remorse
In this night of great chill
and vanished into the darkness
It was time for a kill...

4. A Romance With The Grave

Up on the hill
In picturesque light
Lies peaceful, still
A burial site

The gateway creaks
I scare myself
Some doubtful peeks
The clock strikes twelve

Ancient ground
And mossy rocks
A smell unsound
A grave unlocks

Oldest sin...
Palest skin...
Ageless grin...
...death!

Ruthless Lust
Without disgust
Dirt and dust
A romance with the grave

The fog lies thick
And moon does rise
Her antique chique
Glares in my eyes

A first shy kiss
And silent moans
In the abyss
The coffin groans

In close embrace
Desires deep
And for her grace
In joy I weep

Oldest sin...
Palest skin...
Ageless grin...
...death!

Ruthless Lust
Without disgust
Dirt and dust
A romance with the grave

5. The Outsider

A cheering light
I've never seen
My days are bleak
Sans the serene

These ancient walls
I never left
From balming sleep
I've been bereft

Solitude has always been my lot
Cobwebs and shadows, rats and old toads
How long I dwell in here I seem forgot
In smell of ages gone and putrid moats

There is bitter comfort
In my ways that have no sun
Through ruins of decay I hunt
I am the eidolon

I linger on old graves
I exist unseen
The outcast and the wretched spawn
- I am the unclean

For in one night
I touched the cold
And polished glass
Thus had insight

A fiendish ghoul of gruesome shape and view
Stared at me in fright and awe
But once I took a closer look I knew
The dreadful horror - my self I saw...

There is bitter comfort
In my ways that have no sun
Through ruins of decay I hunt
I am the eidolon

I linger on old graves
I exist unseen
The outcast and the wretched spawn
- I am the unclean

I feast upon the beauty
Of things that others shun
In netherworlds and crypts I dwell
- I am the alien one

I wallow in the old world
In things that they condemn
Through solitude and shadow
- The outsider I am

6. Mother Nothingness (The Triumph Of Ubbo Sathla)

In the steaming morass
Of a newborn earth
Lies the formless mass
Which to all gave birth

In a sea of sludge
Of immense extend
Lies the thoughtless mass
Which is source and end

We all must follow
Into her void
To her fetid womb
We all return

Her voiceless howl
Resounds through time
From primal mud
And fenses foul

A limbless thing
Mindless and coarse
This wretches guise
Is end and source

We all must follow
Into her void
To her fetid womb
We all return

Fall through the aeons
Onward to the earth in its prime
Fall through the aeons
Becoming the spawn
Of the great old slime

7. The Foul Within

A pure and lovely child
Sweet beyond deny
It crept into its soul one night
Unseen by human eye

Lucifer - Azazel - Belial - Seth
The devil has many a name
Ancient alp - adversary - come forth and reveal
Thy nature thou must proclaim

Lord of all winds, fever and plague
Thy will be done - thy will be done
Bringer of havoc, fiend of old date
Thy will be done - thy will be done
By god and the heavens
Let loose from this soul
The name of the father
And lord we extol

Lucifer - Azazel - Belial - Seth
The devil has many a name
Ancient alp - adversary - come forth and reveal
Thy nature thou must proclaim

Lord of all winds, fever and plague
Thy will be done - thy will be done
Bringer of havoc, fiend of old date
Thy will be done - thy will be done
By god and the heavens
Let loose from this soul
The name of the father
And lord we extol

Lord of all heavens, deliver from hell
Thy will undone, thy will undone
To the power of Christ thou must compel
Thy will undone, thy will undone
Lord of all winds, fever and plague
Bringer of havoc, fiend of old date
Thy will is done...

8. He Who Paints The Black Of Night

A painter I have been
For as long as I can think
But never quenched the feather
Into the firkin of black ink

My motif's been of beauty
Diluted and too light
My stroke of brush is worthless
Until I paint the blackest night...

A darkened empty room
A screen in dreadful white
Waiting for the flame
Of inspiration to ignite

So I begin my work
I sweep the brush through black
A line on the horizon
Now there is no coming back

But to my great excitement
Like in a secret rite
With trembling hand I paint
And fill the cloth with night

Deeper and deeper
I fall into trance
I am led by a sorcerous hand
With death in my eyes
And madness at heart
Grandeur is cast into art...

Of the shadow, of the sin
And death therein
And darkness fills my sky
Of the brave and seldom kin
Is he who paints the night

By a magic arrangement
And the assistance of fate
Stroke by stroke I descend
Into the abyss I create

Deeper and deeper
I fall into trance
I am led by a sorcerous hand
With death in my eyes
And madness at heart
Grandeur is cast into art...

Of the shadow, of the sin
And death therein
And darkness fills my sky
Of the brave and seldom kin
Is he who paints the night

From that secret fountain
Henceforth I will be fed
Never shall I leave its haunt
Until the day I hail the dead

I vomit on your junk
And piss on your false skill
You shall never understand
The glory of good and ill

Shadow, darkness, death and sin
Half off from this pack
You will never be complete
Until you paint the night in black







THE VISION BLEAK LYRICS