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by Mervyn Laurence Peake (1911 - 1968)

I cannot give the reasons
Language: English 
I cannot give the reasons,
I only sing the tunes:
the sadness of the seasons
the madness of the moons.

I cannot be didactic
or lucid, but I can
be quite obscure and practic-
ally marzipan

In gorgery and gushness
and all that's squishified.
My voice has all the lushness
of what I can't abide

And yet it has a beauty
most proud and terrible
denied to those whose duty
is to be cerebral.

Among the antlered mountains
I make my viscous way
and watch the sepia mountains
throw up their lime-green spray.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Mervyn Laurence Peake (1911 - 1968), "I Cannot Give the Reasons", appears in A Book of Nonsense, first published 1972 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "I Cannot Give You Reasons", 2008 [ voice and piano ], from A Book of Nonsense, no. 12 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-05
Line count: 20
Word count: 93

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