The Coal That Sings Hosanna Paul Shapera

[Alice:]
The wishes that the drop might wish
Before the brush's bristled kiss
In the end, expectation is a liar

Into scenes at last is spread
A splash of white, a spot of red
On a canvas grand and awful shall expire

It's not for you to wish or dream
A painter's drop on endless seas
Take your place in history's grand design

Little drop, before you go
Perhaps you're loved, perhaps not so
Perhaps your solace comes to you in time

It's over tonight, the canticle sung
Ah, the task at last is now done
Tonight the last band plays and then retires

It's over tonight, they fall where they may
Ah, and those who can will walk away
The coal that sings hosanna in the fire

The princess laughs and grasps the night
In love beneath red endless skies
Little drop before the brush arrives