Monkey Bear

([Am]          [G]    [F]
down in the green hay
      [A]          [G]    [D])
where monkey and bear usually lay
they [Am]woke from a [F]stable-boy's[Am] cry

he said; s[Am]omeone [G]come [F]quick!
the [A]horses got l[G]oose, got g[D]rass-sick!
they'll [Am]founder! [F]fain, they'll [Am]die

[Cm]what is [C]now known [Cadd9]by the [E]sorrel [Esus4]and the [E]roan?
[Esus4]   [E]        [Esus4]        [Eadd9]   [E]
[E]by the chestnut, and the bay, and the gelding grey?

it is: [Am]stay by the g[G]ate you are [D]given
and [C]remain in your[G] place, for your [F]season
and had the o[Am]verfed [G]dead but [C]listened
to that [F]high-fence, [G]horse-sense, [A]wisdom...

[Am]"did you hear t[G]hat, B[F]ear?" said [D]monkey
we'll g[G]et out [D]of here, fair and [D/A]square
they've l[Am]eft the [F]gate open[Am] wide!

[Am]so;
my b[D]ride
[Am]here is my hand, where [D]is your paw?
[Am]try and understand my p[D]lan, Ursala
[Am]my heart is a f[D]urnace
[Am]full of love that's just, and [D]earnest
now; y[Am]ou know that we must u[D]nlearn this
[Am]allegiance to a life of [D]service
and no l[Am]onger answer to that h[D]eartless
hay-m[Am]onger, nor be his ac[D]complice
(that [Am]charlatan, with artless h[D]ustling!)
but; U[Am]rsala, we've got to eat so[D]mething
and [Am]earn our keep, while [D]still within
the [Am]borders of the land that man has gir[D]ded
(all [Am]double-bolted and [D]tightfisted!)
[Am]until we reach the [D]open country
[Am]a-steeped in milk and [D]honey

[Am]will you keep your fancy clothes on, for me?       [D]
[Am]can you bear a little longer to wear that leash?   [D]
[Am]my love, I swear by the air I breath[D]e:
[Am]sooner or l[C]ater, you'll [F]bare your t[Am]eeth

but for [Am]now, just dance, [D]darling
[Am]c'mon, will you dance, my d[E]arling?
[Am]darling, there's a [C]place for us
can we [F]go, before I [D]turn to dust?
[Am]oh my d[C]arling, there's a [F]place for [Am]us
[Am]oh d[D]arling
[Am]c'mon will you dance, my darling? [E]
oh, th[Am]e hills are groaning[C] with excess
like a[F] table ceaselessly b[D]eing set
[Am]oh my dar[C]ling, we will [F]get there [Am]yet

[Am]they trooped p[G]ast the g[F]uards,
          [A]              [G]                   [D] ([F], [G])
past the coops, and the fields, and the farmyards
all[Am] night, till f[F]inal[Am]ly:

the [Am]space they [G]gained [F]grew
      [A]               [G]               [D]  ([F], [G])
much farther than the stone that bear threw
to [Am]mark where they'd [F]stop for t[Am]ea

but[Cm] walk a [C]little fas[Cadd9]ter
and [E]don't [Esus4]look b[E]ack[Esus4]wards
     [E]        [Esus4]  [E]           [Eadd9]  [E]
yo[Eadd9]ur feast is to the East, which lies a little past the
[E]pasture

when the b[Am]lackbirds hear tea w[G]histling, they [F]rise and clap
and their a[C]pplause caws the [G]kettle b[F]lack
and we [Am]can't have [G]none of t[C]hat!

move [Am]along, Bear; th[G]ere, there; [D]that&
(though[Am] cast in [G]plast[F]er
    [A]          [G]          [D] ([F], [G])
our Ursala's heart beat faster
than [Am]monkey's e[F]ver w[Am]ill)

[Am]but s[D]till;
[Am]they have got to pay the bills          [D]
[Am]hadn't [D]they?
[Am]that is what the [D]monkey'd say

[Am]so, with the c[D]ourage of a c[Am]lown, or a cur
or a [D]kite, jerking tight at its t[Am]ether
in her[D] dun-brown gown of[Am] fur
and her jerkin of[D] swan's down and le[Am]ather

Bear would [D]sway on her hind l[Am]egs;
the organ would grind dre[D]gs of song, for the pl[Am]easure
of the [D]children, who'd shriek
throwi[Am]ng coins at her feet
then re[D]coiling in t[Am]error

sing, dance, [D]darling
[Am]c'mon, will you dance, m[E]y darling?
[Am]oh darling, there's a [C]place for us
can we [F]go, before I [D]turn to dust?
[Am]oh my [C]darling, there&

[Am]oh d[D]arling
[Am]c'mon, will you dance, my darling?            [E]
you keep your[Am] eyes fixed on the highest [C]hill
where you'll [F]ever-after e[D]at your fill
[Am]oh my [C]darling, [F]dear, mi[D]ne
if you d[Am]ance
dance, [C]darling, and i [F]love you s[Am]till

[Am]deep in the night
shone a weak and miserly light
where the monkey shouldered his lamp
someone had told him
the bear had been wandering
a fair piece away from where they were camped
someone had told him
the bear'd been sneaking away
to the seaside caverns, to bathe
and the thought troubled the monkey
for he was afraid of spelunking down in those caves
also afraid what the village people would say
if they saw the bear in that state;
lolling and splashing obscenely
well, it seemed irrational, really; washing that face
washing that matted and flea-bit pelt
in some sea-spit-shine, old kelp dripping with brine
but monkey just laughed, and he muttered;
when she comes back, Ursala will be bursting with pride
'til I jump up!
saying: you've been rolling in muck!
saying: you smell of garbage and grime!
but far out
far out
by now
by now
far out, by now, Bear ploughed
'cause she would not drown:
first the outside-legs of the bear
up and fell down, in the water, like knobby garters
then the outside-arms of the bear
fell off, as easy as if sloughed from boiled tomatoes
low'red in a genteel curtsy
bear shed the mantle of her diluvian shoulders;
and, with a sigh, she allowed the burden of belly
to drop like an apronfull of boulders
if you could hold up her threadbare coat to the light
where it's worn translucent in places
you'd see spots where almost every night of the year
Bear had been mending suspending that baseness
now her coat drags through the water
bagging, with a life's-worth of hunger, limitless minnows
in the magnetic embrace
balletic and glacial of Bear's insatiable shadow
left there!
left there!
when Bear left Bear
left there!
left there!
when Bear stepped clear of Bear

[Am], [G], [F], [A], [G], [D] ([F],
[Am]  [F]  [G]

([Am]sooner or l[C]ater, you'll [F]bare your te[Am]eth...)