Wednesday, June 16, 2010

ever on

After several weeks, I'm still not ready to put Middlemarch back on the shelf. If writing a which-Middlemarch-woman-are-you-quiz was not enough to get the story out of my system, I wonder if dreaming about Middlemarch, The Musical might be? I'd need to ditch a few characters and a good 500 pages of content, but Les Mis survived more than that.

Here's a preview lyric, inspired by Eliot's Shakespeare quote 'My grief lies onward and my joy behind'. Can you guess who should be singing?

Ever On

1. What weary miles I travel
every day I seek
my journey's end but know it brings
no joy and no relief

my path is narrow, winding
with darkened shadows lined
and only grief lies onward
all my joy is left behind.

Ever on, up each hill, around each bend
Ever on, till I reach my journey's end
Step by step, though this path
leads me further from my heart
ever onward, ever onward I will go.

2. The wall between us rising
and petty tyrannies
are bricks that separate our souls
and thwart our destinies

A web of lies is woven
my heart held in its bind
now only grief is onward
all my joy is far behind

3. A phantom clothed in splendour
Emits her glorious ray
I reach and yet I cannot touch
the vision fades away

Awake, my soul to reason
leave dreams of every kind
for only grief lies onward
all my joy is far behind.


sar 2010

3 comments:

  1. The only thing I know about Middlemarch (or believe I know about it) is that it is set in the UK. The UK still uses imperial distance measurements with no metric equivalent listed above (unlike weights and volumes) so using "miles" is perfectly in context. :-)

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  2. I like it! It sounds a lot like Dorothea should be singing, but I really need to read that book again ...

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