Open Unto The Fields

And I will sing of the sun.
(Ezra Pound, Cino)

It seems the hills are sleeping,
There's no movement in the grass,
But a second's relaxation
And it may be our last.
The twitching of a nose and the pricking of an ear;
We're rabbits -
We know fear.

Chorus:
With all the world against our kind,
We fight to stay alive -
We struggle,
Yet still the rabbits thrive!

Safe and warm in burrows,
Far beneath the snow and ice,
But to the savage winter
We paid a bitter price.
Our kittens will be honoured in the stories that are told;
We're rabbits -
We know cold.

Chorus

Bolt from fox and weasel,
Cower at buzzard's call,
But there's another enemy
Crueller far than all.
They'll poison us and shoot us, and kill us how they can;
We're rabbits -
We know man.

Chorus

She was my life's companion,
And Sunbeam was her name,
But shining wire in the grass
Her wild free spirit tamed.
The triumph of her life was sung along with her last breath;
We're rabbits -
We know death.

Chorus (twice)

I make no claims to any great musical ability, but much of the tune for this came to me one day and I thought it a pity to let it pass without fitting some words thereto. A simple MIDI file for the first verse and chorus, played by me on the keyboard and hence not very good (but in stereo!), can be heard here.