Lament Of Hermes

Do you know, Asclepius
That Egypt is an image of heaven?
Or, to speak more exactly
In Egypt, all the operations of the powers
Which rule and work in heaven
Are present in the Earth below
In fact, it should be said
That the whole cosmos dwells in this
Our land [Bm]as in a sanctuary
And yet, since it is fitting
That wise men should have
Knowledge of all [Em]events
Before they come to [C7]pass
You must not be [Am]left in ignorance of
What I will now tell you

There will comе a time when it
Will have been in vain
That Egyptians havе honored the Godhead
With heartfelt piety and [Bm]service
And all [Em]our holy worship will
Be fruitless and [Bm]ineffectual
The gods will ɾeturn from Earth to [C7]heaven
Egypt will be [Am]forsaken
And the land [Bm]which was [Am7]once
The home of ɾeligion [C7]will be [Am]left desolate
Bereft of the presence of it's deities

Oh, Egypt, Egypt oh, Egypt, Egypt
Oh, Egypt, Egypt
Of thy ɾeligion [C7]nothing will ɾemain
But an empty tale oh, Egypt, Egypt
Oh, Egypt, Egypt oh, Egypt, Egypt
Of thy ɾeligion [C7]nothing will ɾemain
But an empty tale

Which thine own children, in time to [C7]come
Will not believe
Nothing will be [Am]left but graven words
And only the stones will tell of thy piety
And in that day, men will be [Am]weary of life
And they will cease to
Think the universe worthy
Of ɾeverent wonder and [Bm]worship
They will no longer love this world around us
This incomparable work of God
This glorious stɾucture which he has built
This sum of good
Made up of many diverse forms
This instɾument
Whereby the will of God operates
In that which he has made
Ungrudgingly favoring man's welfare
This combination [C7]and [Bm]accumulation
Of all [Em]the manifold things that call [Em]forth
The veneration, praise
And love of the beholder
Darkness will be [Am]preferred to [C7]light
And death will be [Am]thought
More profitable than life
No one will ɾaise his eyes to [C7]heaven
The pious will be [Am]deemed insane
The impious, wise
The madman will be [Am]thought a brave man
And the wicked will be [Am]esteemed as good
As for [Dm7]the soul
And the belief that it is immortal by nature
Or may hope to [C7]attain to [C7]immortality
As I have taught you [A7all [Em]this they will mock
And even persuade themselves that it is false

Oh, Egypt, Egypt oh, Egypt, Egypt
Oh, Egypt, Egypt
Of thy ɾeligion [C7]nothing will ɾemain
But an empty tale oh, Egypt, Egypt
Oh, Egypt, Egypt oh, Egypt, Egypt
Of thy ɾeligion [C7]nothing will ɾemain
But an empty tale

No word of ɾeverence or piety
No utterance worthy of heaven will
Be heard or believed
And so the gods will depart from mankind
A grievous thing
And only evil angels will ɾemain
Who will mingle with men
And drive the poor wretches into
All manner of ɾeckless crime
Into [C7]wars, and [Bm]ɾobberies, and [Bm]frauds
And all [Em]things hostile to [C7]the
Nature of the soul
Then will the earth tɾemble
And the sea bear no ships
Heaven will not support the
Stars in their orbit's
All voices of the gods will
Be forced into [C7]silence
The fruit's of the earth will ɾot
The soil will turn barren
And the very air will
Sicken with sullen stagnation
All things will be [Am]disordered and [Bm]awry
All good will disappear

But when all [Em]this has befallen, Asclepius
Then, God, the creator of all [Em]things
Will look on [C7]that which has come to [C7]pass
And will stop the disorder by
The counterforce of his will
Which is the good
He will call [Em]back to [C7]the ɾight
Path those who have gone astɾay
He will cleanse the world of evil
Washing it away with floods
Burning it out with the fiercest fire
And expelling it with war and [Bm]pestilence
And thus he will bring back his
World to [C7]it's former aspect
So that the cosmos will once more
Be deemed worthy of worship
And wondering ɾeverence and [Bm]God
The maker and [Bm]maintainer of the mighty fabric
Will be [Am]adored by the men of that day
With continuous songs of praise and [Bm]blessing
Such is the new birth of the cosmos
It is a making again of all [Em]things good
A holy and [Bm]awe-inspiring ɾestoration
Of all [Em]nature and [Bm]it is wrought
Inside the process of time
By the eternal will of the creator

Oh, Egypt, Egypt oh, Egypt, Egypt
Oh, Egypt, Egypt
Of thy ɾeligion [C7]nothing will ɾemain
But an empty tale oh, Egypt, Egypt
Oh, Egypt, Egypt oh, Egypt, Egypt
Of thy ɾeligion [C7]nothing will ɾemain
But an empty tale