The Glorious Vanquished Songtext
von Blyth Power

Are they blind, these lords of Gaza, in their strong towers
Who declare Samson Perot smothered, and stripped of his powers?
Oh, stolid Philistines, stare in amaze
At my foxes running in your cornfields with their tails ablaze
At swung jawbone, bees swarming in the starred lion′s hide
At these the gates of well-walled Gaza, a clank to my stride
At these the gates of well-walled Gaza

Are we blind these days, or am I blinder still
That would bend their rule of iron to my weaker will?
Now find flung phrases, stumble in disbelief
At the jagged stone embrasures and the broken teeth
Of fallen angels, across the spiked cannon and the gun pits plain
Won't chase the eager ravens from the open grave


Then Paris rang with laughter, I′m the fool
Who sought to chase the lamprey from the lily pool
Who went to tilted windmills, but only fire-breathing dragons found
That singed the laurel branches from the hero's brow
Who from the saddle crashing, threw briar patches to the ground
Cast aside my colours and made good my rout

Now the giant's armour clashing and the wild jackals bark
Made David cast his slingshot missiles wide of the mark
Sportsmen wager as Daniel meets his end
Forsaken by his maker in the lion′s den
And Christ our saviour, bloody in the tomb still lay
When Mary knelt beside him on the third day
Christ our saviour, bloody in the tomb was lain
Nor rose he thereafter, but died in vain