ooes - night

[Intro]
It was a dark and stormy night- Or so the Heralds say
The lightning striking constantly transformed the night to day
The thunder roared the castle 'round- Or thusly runs the tale
And, rising from the northeast tower there came a fearful wail

[Verse 1]
It was no beast nor banshee, that, the castle folk knew well
No prisoner in agony, nor demon trapped by spell
No ghost that moaned in penance, nor a soul in mortal fright
'Twas just the Countess "singing"- For she practiced every night

[Verse 2]
The Countess was convinced that she should have been born a Bard
And thus she made the lives of those within her power hard
For they must listen to her sing, and smile at what they heard
And swear she had a golden voice that rivaled any bird...

[Verse 3]
The Countess was convinced that she had wedded 'neath her state
And so the worst lot fell upon her meek and mild mate
Not only must the Count each night endure her every song
But suffer silent her abuse, be blamed for every wrong

[Verse 4]
It was a dark and stormy night- Or so the Bards aver-
And so perhaps that was the reason why there was no stir
When suddenly the "music" ceased. So when dawn raised his head
Within the tower the servants found the Countess stiff and dead

[Verse 5]
The Heralds came at once to judge if there had been foul play
And questioned all most carefully to hear what they would say
And one fact most astounding to them quickly came to light:
That every movement of the Count was vouched for on that night

[Verse 6]
The castle folk by ones and twos came forward on their own
To swear the Count had never once that night been all alone
So though the tower had been locked tight, with two keys to the door
One his, one hers, the Count was plain absolved of guilt for sure

[Outro]
At length the Heralds then pronounced her death as suicide
And all within the district voiced themselves quite satisfied
It was a verdict, after all, that none wished to refute-
Though no one could imagine why she tried to eat her lute