The Conqueror Worm

[Musical Intro] ... [Verse] Lo! 'tis a gala night Within the lonesome latter years! An angel throng, bewinged, bedight In veils, and drowned in tears, Sit in a theatre, to see A play of hopes and fears, While the orchestra breathes fitfully The music of the spheres. [Bass Drop] [Chorus] Mimes, in the form of God on high, Mutter and mumble low, And hither and thither fly- Mere puppets they, who come and go [Break] At bidding of vast formless things That shift the scenery to and fro, Flapping from out their Condor wings Invisible Woe! [Verse] That motley drama- oh, be sure It shall not be forgot! With its Phantom chased for evermore, By a crowd that seize it not, Through a circle that ever returneth in To the self-same spot, [Build] To the self-same spot! [Break] And much of Madness (madness), and more of Sin (sin), And Horror the soul of the plot (HORROR!) But see, amid the mimic rout A crawling shape intrude! A blood-red thing that writhes from out The scenic solitude! It writhes!- IT WRITHES! with mortal pangs The mimes become its food, And seraphs sob at vermin fangs In human gore imbued. [Build] In human gore imbued. [Break] [Bass Drop] [Bridge] Out- out are the lights- out all! And, over each quivering form, The curtain, a funeral pall, Comes down with the rush of a storm, While the angels, all pallid and wan, Uprising, unveiling, affirm That the play is the tragedy, "Man," And its hero the Conqueror Worm. [Build] THE CONQUEROR WORM! [Bass Drop] [Refrain] [End] [End] [End]