Lucky Little Countryman
Oh, lucky little countryman
whose woes are ever few.
You plow, you sow, you reap
and thus you claim your due.
From time of birth the world was set;
its laws were writ in stone.
You always knew you needn’t fret,
as child or full man grown.
Your father, worthy as he was,
was never all too bright.
And if you ever aimed too high
he’d kick you from his sight.
Your mother, warm but ever strict
had only, the one rule.
“You work? You eat and then you sleep”
And none may call that cruel.
Oh, lucky little countryman;
you do not know your gift.
If half the world could choose their fate,
to yours their life would shift.
Your brothers, laggards to the last,
could always spin a tale.
Of maidens, dragons, kingdoms vast
and swords that never fail.
Among them raised and grew too fast,
the rule was ever clear.
“You work? You eat and then you sleep.”
To obey, is not to fear.
In time you learned to live and love
and mostly to forget,
for no one in the world can thrive,
who 'as cause to feel regret.
Oh, lucky little countryman,
so eager to surrender.
Ambition lies so far behind,
you strain but to remember.
And yet I’d bet all that I own,
you cannot guess what plagues me.
Envy marks my every step,
her soiled cloak, it stains me.
Stains the smile on my face,
if e’er it came unbidden.
Stains the anger that erupts
and turns my brown eyes leaden.
Envy of a freedom so profound
I only can imagine.
A bird inside the deep sky, blue,
with clouds the sun not grudging.
To take and give the love you wish
and not the one you’re bidden.
A passion that could drown a sea;
controlled, but never hidden.
Oh, lucky little countryman,
I’m cursed to love a maiden,
but forced to marry another one;
the one with most gold laden.
How may I rule these lives of yours,
when my heart will not surrender?
And choose to close and open doors,
when I’m, but a pretender?
Oh, lucky little countryman
my father and my brother,
oh, foolish little slave of mine,
you; creature of your mother.
The law is writ
and we must needs obey.
He does not treat,
but ever sows dismay.
Oh, lucky little countryman
woe to all my fortune.
If life were fair and men were wise
love would not be torture.
