Lest truth may be heard,
pluck quills from the bird
to keep the words from the wing,
but songs have a life
beyond all the strife,
and hearts that are free still sing.
Clip wings of the child
lest he become wild
and sing the songs of the free.
Bend him to your lies,
but still the song flies
with truth, that all men may see.
A deep oubliette
won't make men forget
the skies that once held a lark,
for evil can't quell
the musical swell
of tunes that banish the dark.
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Author Notes
The refrain of the eponymous French song runs:
"Alouette, gentille alouette,
Alouette, je te plumerai."
("Little skylark, lovely little skylark,
Little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.")
An oubliette is a castle dungeon accessed only through a trapdoor in the ceiling. The word is derived from the French 'oublier', to forget.
Photo Information: Photo taken by Ken (nkenji) - Photo licensed under Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.
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