Victor
(Lifeson / W.H. Auden)
Victor was a little baby
Into this world he came:
His father took him
On his knee and said
"Don't dishonour the family name."
Victor looked up at his father
Looked up with big round eyes
His father said
"Victor, my only son
Don't you ever tell lies."
It was a frosty December
It wasn't the time for fruits
His father fell dead
Of heart disease
While lacing up his boots.
It was a frosty December
When into his grave he sank
His uncle found Victor
A post at the
Midland Counties Bank
It was a frosty december
Victor was only eighteen
But his figures were neat
And his margins straight
And his cuffs were always clean
He took a room at the Peveril
A respectable boarding-house
And Time watched Victor
Day after day
As a cat will watch a mouse.
Victor went up to his bedroom
Set the alarm bell
Climbed into his bed
Took his Bible and read
Of what happened to Jezebel.
It was the First of April
Anna to the Peveril came
Her eyes, her lips,her breasts
Her hips and her smile
Set men aflame.
It was the Second of April
She was wearing a coat of fur
Victor met her upon the stairs
And fell in love with her.
The first time
He made his proposal
She laughed, said
"I'll never wed":
The second time
There was a pause
Then she smiled
And shook her head.
Anna looked into the mirror
Pouted and gave a frown
Said
"Victor's as dull
As a wet afternoon
But I've got to settle down."
The third time
He made his proposal
As they walked by the Reservoir
She gave him a kiss
Like a blow on the head
Said
"You are my heart's desire."
They were married early in August
She said
"Kiss me, you funny boy"
Victor took her in his arms
And said
"Oh, my Helen of Troy."
The clerks were talking of Anna
The door was just ajar
One said
"Poor old Victor
But where ignorance is bliss
etcetera."
Victor looked up at the sunset
As he stood there all alone
Cried:
"Are you in heaven, Father?"
But the sky said
"Address not known."
Victor looked up at the mountains
The mountains all covered with snow
Cried:
"Are you pleased with me, Father?"
And the answer came back
No.
Victor came to the forest, cried
"Father
Will she ever be true?"
And the oaks and the beeches
Shook their heads
And they answered
"Not to you."
Victor came to the meadow
Where the wind went sweeping by
Cried:"O Father I love her so"
but the wind said
"She must die."
Victor came to the river
Running so deep and so still
Crying
"O Father, what shall I do?"
And the river answered
"Kill."
Anna was sitting at table
Drawing cards from a pack
Anna was sitting at table
Waiting for her husband
To come back.
Victor stood in the doorway
He didn't utter a word;
She said
"What's the matter darling?"
He behaved
As if he hadn't heard.
There was a voice
In his left ear
There was a voice
In his right
There was a voice
At the base of his skull saying
"She must die tonight."
Victor picked up a carving-knife
His features were set and drawn.
Said
"Anna, it would have been
Better for you
If you had not been born."
Anna jumped up from the table
Anna started to scream
But Victor came
Slowly after her
Like a horror in a dream
She dodged behind the sofa
She tore down the curtain rod
But Victor came slowly after her
Said
"Prepare to meet Thy God."
He stood there above the body
He stood there holding the knife
And the blood rand down
The stairs and sang
"I am the Resurrection
And the Life."
They tapped Victor
On the shoulder
They took him away in a van
He sat quiet
As a lump of moss saying
"I am the Son of Man."
Victor sat in a corner
Making a woman of clay.
Saying
"I am the Alpha and Omega
I shall come to judge
The earth one day."
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