Woman

[Grania, sung]
Woman I am born
What does "woman" mean?
Must my dreams face scorn
Held back and unseen

If I long for fire
Must it stay unreal?
Can I not desire?
Am I not to feel?

If I ache to taste
Am I not to try?
If my heart says, "sail"
Why should I deny?

I have my dreams
I have made plans
I see horizons wide as a man's
Must I be nothing till I'm some man's wife?

Look at this face
Does it deceive?
Do I look made to milk and to weave?
I will be damned to Hell if that is my life!

(spoken)
Blasphemy–I know, forgive me!
But I won't take it back! I won't!

[TIERNAN, spoken]
I understand you! Somehow I never pictured you knitting

[GRANIA, sung]
I'm almost your age
I'm your match in size
I'm as skilled with swords
And equal in most eyes

But when you have a dream
And you're caught in its grip
You can climb aboard a ship
You can, you can, for you're a man!

You can reach toward that place
Where the earth meets the sky
Fight a battle, be brave, be true
If you can do it, why not I?

I'm meant to fly
Sail unrestrained
Why is man free and woman chained?
Is that my epitaph before I die?

I should be free
Free to be Grace
So I can feel the wind on my face!

And when life beckons, I should go
Face out the storm, not stay below
Am I to be just woman? No, not I!