England 1914

Night stirs her inky finger

In the water of the day,

The tired sun drops slowly in the sky.

And everywhere the gentle air

Hangs heavy with the day song

Evening calls the lamplight out to come.

Children's wooden hoops

Go clattering down the street

Soon they're called inside, it's getting late.

The grand canal

Now splashed with red

Reflects on swallows wings.

The lamplighter knows the song

The evening sings.

But the gas-lamps stand like soldiers

Hiss warnings to the wind

Their evening vespers prophicy a war.

The world divides

And men take sides

The spark bursts into flame

Nothing can be quite the same again.

Dog barks in the distance

Child cries in her sleep

Night waits for the dawn with baited breath.

The old school, the old rule

Rung out on a muffinman's bell

The lamplighter has made his nightly call.

Dreams of hope and peace

Sent clattering down the streets

Empty like the promises they made.

The wars rage on, and different wrongs

Will someone please explain

That peace is not the lamplighter

'Cos he's not coming back again.