The Child

[Verse 1]
And the child has found his way to the spring
With no one to lead him by hand
Through the briars and brambles and nettles that sting
He follows each step of her plan
And the mother who washes her clothes by hand
Looks up as the cranes cross the sky
As the old woman battles the chill on the strand
A shell that is left by the tide

[Verse 2]
And the child's built a boat to sail on the river
To play pretty prince to the queen
And the play is so real as to cause her to shiver
Abandoned in the bulrushes unseen
And the mother who watches the ocean for help
For the boats filled with sweet Spanish wine
As the old woman hobbles her way to the well
To draw up the flow with her line

[Verse 3]
And the child runs the beach with the horse-hooves of thunder
With his sword he does battle the waves
With abandon each thrust has now drawn him under
No thought and no spell can now save
And the mother who's left to watch o'er the spring
Looks up as the horsemen pass by
As the old woman tends the boat as she sings
And opens her hand for the tithe

[Verse 4]
In the time between time, in the light before dawn
When the devil gets his due on the grass
And the sweet Spanish wine lays spilled on the lawn
The sound on the wind does not last
In the time between time when the moon is at full
When love lies hobbled in the hay
By this water with no source and no force and no pull
By this water we are all washed away