A Requiem for Septimus Warren Smith, a song

Another song from my inversions project.  I won't say much about it, except to explain that Septimus Warren Smith is a character from Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway.  He is  a veteran of World War I suffering from PTSD before anyone really knew what PTSD was.  I wrote it a couple of January's ago, when a number of very heartbreaking stories about Canadian soldiers suffering with PTSD were prominent headlines.



When Septimus Warren Smith fell down
I thought I heard the clatter
Of his body on the ground,
When he fell down

When Septimus Warren Smith fell down
I thought I saw them scatter
All the sparrows all around,
When he fell down

Don’t cry, Lucreiza
Don’t cry for me
Don’t cry, Lucreiza
Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry for me

If Septimus Warren Smith be mad
Then all sane men are fools
And crazy’s not so bad,
If he be mad

And when Septimus Warren Smith wept tears
They gathered into pools
Of truth and hope and fears,
When he wept tears

Don’t cry, Lucreiza
Don’t cry for me
Don’t cry, Lucreiza
Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry for me

When Septimus Warren Smith fell down
I thought I heard the clatter
Of his body on the ground
When he fell down