Into a great tree a small worm did go
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It wormed its way inwards and soon it did grow
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The tree was unhappy but what could it do?
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It stood there in silence: the worm grew and grew
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The tree was unhappy but what could it say
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The worm kept on growing the tree sank away
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The worm was so greedy it ate more each day
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And each day it ate more the tree shrank away
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The worm was so loathsome it felt no disgrace
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The birds had been silenced the sun shunned that place
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And all of the forest grew fearful to see
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What terrible fate lay in store for the tree
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The worm grew so monstrous its greed knew no bounds
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The smell was so awful if poisoned the ground
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And all of the creatures that lived in the wood
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Were sickened and starving the worm spoiled their food
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The birds would not sing and the sun could not shine
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The forest lay dirty and blackened with grime
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Now down in the forest a young man went riding
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He passed by the great tree and saw it was dying
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The leaves and the bark were all rotten and rife
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The tree had been poisoned and drained for its life
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He stripped of a piece of the bark of the tree
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And straight'way he know what the right cure should be
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The man built a fire and chopped down the tree
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The worm started screaming it could not break free
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It trashed and it lashed but it could net break loose
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Trapped in that tree like a thief in a noose
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The worm burst asunder a vile smelling crust
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He hacked it to pieces and burnt it to dust
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The forest seemed clearer and peacful at last
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Like after a storm when the rainclouds have passed
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And although the great tree was fallen and dead
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They knew from the ashes a new life would spread
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Yes although the great tree had fallen and died
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They knew from the ashes a new one would thrive
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Now years may have passed since the tale I have told
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Yet the truth of this story does still seem to hold
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Although from a great tree a small worm may grow
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That eats it with poison and tortures its soul
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The worm can be killed yet the tree be not dead
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For from the roots of the elder a new life will spread
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The Worm & The Tree
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| Procol Harum |
