The Old King and His Son
© 1996-2001
So come and list to me,
There was of old a king, my love,
I'll sing of him for thee.
For he had planted a fair garden -
Hey come and list to me -
And this fair garden was a rare delight,
A glorious thing to see.
Many a bright-hued flower there grew -
Hey come and list to me -
Many a beast and many a bird,
And many a wide-leaf'd tree.
And this mighty king had an only son -
Hey come and list to me -
And all his love he gave to his son,
He loved him most tenderly.
And this king's son was a goodly boy -
Hey come and list to me -
But wild were his ways, for he was too young,
As green as a sapling tree.
"My son, my son, thou art my heir, -
Hey come and list to me -
And thou shalt rule over all my land
And over all my fee".
"O king my father, I am young and strong -
Hey come and list to me -
And gladly I shall rule over all thy land
If it give joy to thee".
So this young son, he began to reign, -
Hey come and list to me -
And he did alter and change the land
So that it would better be.
One day he went to the fair garden -
Hey come and list to me -
"Cut down the trees on this little lawn
And build a house for me".
They felled the trees and they built a house -
Hey come and list to me -
But soon he wished for another home
For all his family.
So they felled'em here and they felled'em there -
Hey come and list to me -
Till there were no more trees to fell
And the garden stood empty.
And the beasts did leave and the birds flew away -
Hey come and list to me -
And all the flowers withered
And dead were the bug and the bee.
And what was fair was all forlorn -
Hey come and list to me -
And the garden became a desert dry
For the son and his family.
And the old king looked at his garden -
Hey come and list to me -
And he beheld but a wilderness
And cried most bitterly.
"For I have planted this fair garden -
Hey come and list to me -
And gave it all for my son to own,
So that he would be happy.
But he did treat it most wrongfully -
hey come and list to me -
And it has turned like a wilderness,
A bitter dole to me".
And this green garden was the Earth, my love,
The Earth that we live upon -
And the old king was the Lord God, my love,
And Man - his only son.
