A Labyrinth _ Celan's poem: Tübingen, Jänner (1)

Mais Leonard Cohen

The Guests


One by one the guests arrive
The guests are coming through
The open-hearted many
The broken-hearted few

And no one knows where the night is going
And no one knows why the wine is flowing
Oh love, I need you, I need you, I need you
I need you now

And those who dance begin to dance
Those who weep begin
Welcome, welcome, cries a voice
Let all my guests come in

And all go stumbling through that house
in lonely secrecy
Saying Do reveal yourself
Or, Why hast thou forsaken me

All at once the torches flare
The inner door flies open
One by one they enter there
In every style of passion

And here they take their sweet repast
While house and grounds dissolve
And one by one the guests are cast
beyond the garden wall

And those who dance begin to dance
Those who weep begin
And those who earnestly are lost
Are lost and lost again

One by one the guests arrive
The guests are coming through
The broken-hearted many
The open-hearted few

And no one knows where the night is going
And no one knows why the wine is flowing
Oh love, I need you, I need you, I need you
I need you now

Leonard Cohen,
Recent Songs - 1979