leonard cohen - by the rivers dark lyrics

by the rivers dark
i wandered on.
i lived my life
in babylon.

and i did forget
my holy song:
and i had no strength
in babylon.

by the rivers dark
where i could not see
who was waiting there
who was hunting me.

and he cut my lip
and he cut my heart.
so i could not drink
from the river dark.

and he covered me,
and i saw within,
my lawless heart
and my wedding ring,

i did not know
and i could not see
who was waiting there,
who was hunting me.

by the rivers dark
i panicked on.
i belonged at last
to babylon.

then he struck my heart
with a deadly force,
and he said, this heart:
it is not yours.

and he gave the wind
my wedding ring;
and he circled us
with everything.

by the rivers dark,
in a wounded dawn,
i live my life
in babylon.

though i take my song
from a withered limb,
both song and tree,
they sing for him.

be the truth unsaid
and the blessing gone,
if i forget
my babylon.

i did not know
and i could not see
who was waiting there,
who was hunting me.

by the rivers dark,
where it all goes on;
by the rivers dark
in babylon.