(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- loked up with big round eyes:
His father said:` Victor, my only son, don`t you ever tell lies.`
It was a frosty December, it wsn`t the season 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 as a cashier in the Midlands 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 respectableboarding-house: And Time
watched Victor day after day as a cat willwatch a mouse.
Victor went up to his bedroom, set the alarm bell;
Climbed into his bed, took his bible and read of happend 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 shook her head. Anna
looked at 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 hemade his proposal, as they walked by the Reservoir,
She gave him a kiss like a blowon the head, said,`You are my heart`s
desire.`
They married early in August, she said;`Kiss me, you funny
boy`:
Victor took her in his arms and said:`O 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 the
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 cam slowly after her like a horror in a dream.
She dodged behind the sofa, she tore down a 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 ran 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 as 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 Alpha and Omega, I shall come
To judge the earth one day.`
