Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres
I. preludeWhen our weary world was youngThe struggle of the ancients first beganThe gods of love and reasonSought alone to rule the fate of man
They battled through the agesBut still neither force would yieldThe people were dividedEvery soul a battlefield ...
Ii. apollo: bringer of wisdom'i bring truth and understandingI bring wit, and wisdom fairPrecious gifts beyond compareWe can build a world of wonderI can make you all aware'
'i will find you food and shelterShow you fire to keep you warmThrough the endless winter stormYou can live in grace and comfortIn the world that you transform'
The people were delightedComing forth to claim their prizeThey ran to build their citiesAnd converse among the wise
But one day the streets fell silentYet they knew not what was wrongThe urge to build these fine thingsSeemed not to be so strong
The wise men were consultedAnd the bridge of death was crossedIn quest of dionysusTo find out what they had lost ...
Iii. dionysus: bringer of love'i bring love to give you solaceIn the darkness of the nightIn the heart's eternal lightYou need only trust your feelingsOnly love can steer you right'
'i bring laughter, I bring musicI bring joy and I bring tearsI will soothe your primal fearsThrow off those chains of reasonAnd your prison disappears'
The cities were abandonedAnd the forests echoed songThey danced and lived as brothersThey knew love could not be wrong
Food and wine they had aplentyAnd they slept beneath the starsThe people were contentedAnd the gods watched from afar
But the winter fell upon themAnd it caught them unpreparedBringing wolves and cold starvationAnd the hearts of men despaired ...
Iv. armageddon: the battle of heart and mindThe universe dividedAs the heart and mind collidedWith the people left unguidedFor so many troubled yearsIn a cloud of doubts and fearsTheir world was torn asunderInto hollow hemispheres
Some fought themselves, some fought each otherMost just followed one anotherLost and aimless like their brothersFor their hearts were so unclearAnd the truth could not appearTheir spirits were dividedInto blinded hemispheres
Some who did not fighBrought tales of old to lightMy 'rocinante' sailed by nightOn her final flight
To the heart of cygnus' fearsome forceWe set our courseSpiralled through that timeless spaceTo this immortal place
V. cygnus: bringer of balanceI have memory and awarenessBut I have no shape or formAs a disembodied spiritI am dead and yet unbornI have passed into olympusAs was told in tales of oldTo the city of immortalsMarble white and purest gold
I see the gods in battle rage on highThunderbolts across the skyI cannot move, I cannot hideI feel a silent scream begin inside
Then all at once the chaos ceasedA stillness fell, a sudden peaceThe warriors felt my silent cryAnd stayed their struggle, mystified
Apollo was atonishedDionysus thought me madBut they heard my story furtherAnd they wondered, and were sad
Looking down from olympusOn a world of doubt and fearIts surface splinteredInto sorry hemispheres
They sat a while in silenceThen they turned at last to me'we will call you cygnus,The God of balance you shall be'
The sphere: a kind of dreamWe can walk our road togetherIf our goals are all the sameWe can run alone and freeIf we pursue a different aim
Let the truth of love be lightedLet the love of truth shine clearSensibilityArmed with sense and libertyWith the heart and mind unitedIn a single perfect sphere