Cosmia
official lyrics from Ys
When you ate,
I saw your eyelashes.
Saw them shake like
wind on rushes.
In the cornfield,
when she called me
Moths surround me.
Thought they’d drown me.
And I miss your precious heart.
Dried rose petals —
redbrown circles —
framed your eyes and
stained your knuckles.
And all those lonely nights
down by the river,
you brought me bread and water
(Water, in.);
But though I tried so hard,
my little darlin,
I couldn’t keep the night from coming in.
And all those lonely nights
down by the river,
I was brought my bread and water
by the kith and the kin;
Now in the quiet hour,
when I am sleeping,
I cannot keep the night from coming in.
Why’ve you gone away?
Gone away again?
I’ll sleep through the rest of my days,
if you’ve gone away again.
Sleep through the rest of my days.
Why’ve you gone away.
Seven suns away.
Can you hear me? Will you listen?
Don’t come near me. Don’t go missing.
In the lissome light of evening:
Help me, Cosmia; I’m grieving.
And all those lonely nights
down by the river,
You brought me bread and water
(Water, in.);
But though I tried so hard,
my little darlin,
I couldn’t keep the night from coming in.
And all those lonely nights
down by the river
I was brought my bread and water
by the kith and the kin;
Now in the quiet hour,
when I am sleeping,
I cannot keep the night from coming in.
*
Beneath the porch-light
we’ve all been circling.
Beat our dust hearts;
singe our flour wings.
But in the corner,
something is happening!
Wild Cosmia, what have you seen?
Water were your limbs,
and the fire was your hair —
and then the moonlight caught your eye,
and you rose through the air
well, if you’ve seen true light,
then this is my prayer:
will you call me, when you get there?
And I miss your precious heart;
and miss, and miss, and miss,
& miss, & miss, &
miss, & miss, & miss your heart.
But release your precious heart,
to its feast, for precious hearts.
Notes
A moth of the genus Cosmia appears on the Ys album cover. According to an interview in Arthur Magazine, this song is about "the death of Newsom’s best friend".