Author's Reading (requires RealPlayer)

Ferocity moving beyond meaning
Richard the panther       Richard's forward pounce
He is one who will always be remembered
The abysm will cancel out his memory
The howling backward pit of the child
Will summon Lionheart to petulance

Under the melody       the green strength of return
The Lion was dead       dead do you hear
In hauberk on horseback he returned
He was instantly escorted by the loyal
The impetuous son       lover of battle
Jerusalem eluded him

He was a shell       he was like my dead Cid
Hollow on horseback       his pallor harsh upon return
It's courage       keeps the heart alive
But this was not courage       this bravery of a wanton
A hot-head Angevin       who sold all for arms
Plundered reserves       harried his father to hell

In green gold       cold, self-cancelling autumn
The treasurous heart       surfaces from the leaves
For months Richard       lived captive in his kingdom
Lionheart dormant       hidden from the loyal
They clung to his vortex       as to a mystery
With an absent culprit       they who survived the Lion