The Sevenfold Quadrille (Bride Triptych II)

[Intro – Sparse piano + distant drone, slightly darker] [Verse – restrained, quiet, low voice][ subdued, low register, no crescendo, no lift, maintain same intensity, no pitch rise, no brightening, no harmonic resolution] Again we met where ruin’d cloisters weep, Where wrack of years lay heap’d on sacred stone; Seven nights we trod where ancient dead men sleep, Seven days we whirl’d as if by fate o’erthrown. Her touch lay cold as frost on coffin lid, Her ribcage clicked a dirge of ancient runes; We spun in frantic waltz where spectres hid, And fed the dark that answer’d to Her name. [Hook][contemplative male vocals] I call’d Her leman, though She answer’d not, For Death keeps silence as Her only speech; [Pre-Chorus] Still was I bound unto that cursed lot, A thrall no mortal pleading e’er could reach. No rest, no pause — seven suns in bloody pall, Seven moons beheld our macabre delight. [Chorus] O Death, thou pale and dread eternal queen, [maintain a level dynamic, no increase in volume or intensity] I quaff’d thy chill as sacramental wine; [deliver each phrase in low register, avoid any upward inflection] Though yet I mov’d where living men are seen, [sustain tension without emotional swell or tonal elevation] My soul was seal’d—no more was wholly mine. [keep timbre dark and weighty, do not resolve or open the tone] [Outro] When seventh sunset bled across the sky, My will was broken, all resistance slain; In thy cold arms I longed but to die, Forever lost within thy fell domain.