Folk and Traditional Song Lyrics:
Easter Tree

The Easter Tree

The Easter Tree

Rain falls upon the Easter tree
The squirrel shakes his head and shivers in his red and sodden fur
The wind and water flatten out his ears and cause his streaming eyes
     to close
The smell of death is heavy in his nose

The sun dries out the Easter tree
The rabbit looks around sees a shadow on the ground and runs for home
The songbird finds a strange and novel perch to shout his challenge
     to the day
The hair beneath his feet is turning grey

A man hangs from the Easter tree
His deathbed is a rope, four strong nails have killed his hope of
     climbing down
His jaws are locked in agony, are open for the flies to come and go
His eyes are in the belly of the crow

A dog sits by the Easter tree
Beneath the naked heels his master or his meal will surely fall
When the rope is broken by the wind or the rusty nails release their
     withered load
The dog, well fed, continues down the road

Bones lie beneath the easter tree
The skull's now full of sand could never understand the reason why
The thread of life was broken by a hand that never cared to know
     their names
They played and lost in someone else's game

The leaves upon the Easter tree
Are red with human blood since justice chose the wood to make a sword
When a man was hanged at Tyburn tree or crucified along the road to Rome
His blood and tears have stained the face of stone

Transcribed from "Ashes and Diamonds" -- June Tabor (1977)
From an old English song. The "Tyburn tree" was the "gallows tree"
     in England in past centuries.

MP
OCT98