by the rivers dark

Leonard Cohen

By the rivers dark
I wandered on.
I lived my life
In babylon.

And i did forget
My holy song:
And i had no strength
In babylon.

By the rivers dark
Where i could not see
Who was waiting there
Who was hunting me.

And he cut my lip
And he cut my heart.
So i could not drink
From the river dark.

And he covered me,
And i saw within,
My lawless heart
And my wedding ring,

I did not know
And i could not see
Who was waiting there,
Who was hunting me.

By the rivers dark
I panicked on.
I belonged at last
To babylon.

Then he struck my heart
With a deadly force,
And he said, 'this heart:
It is not yours.'

And he gave the wind
My wedding ring;
And he circled us
With everything.

By the rivers dark,
In a wounded dawn,
I live my life
In babylon.

Though i take my song
From a withered limb,
Both song and tree,
They sing for him.

Be the truth unsaid
And the blessing gone,
If i forget
My babylon.

I did not know
And i could not see
Who was waiting there,
Who was hunting me.

By the rivers dark,
Where it all goes on;
By the rivers dark
In babylon.