Bells of Oxford

One evening in June 'neath a thickening moon
While dandering through Park Meadow
My love and I made Ovidian vows
To the sound of the bells of Oxford, O

I regaled my love with an old sea song
Of phantom galleons on the Clyde, O
And "A Flood of Angels Sing" hallway Joe
To the sound of the bells of Oxford, O

Moonlight dappled the Isis like a round of applause
As you said something about the stars, O
And I placed long purples in your hair
To the sound of the bells of Oxford, O

Then we wandered on through that moon-flooded town
Past the birthplace of Jane Morris, O
The midwife to a million brush strokes
And the sound of the bells of Oxford, O

And there is your father in ceremonial robes
Inventing rituals to a truant god
Whose meaning's been half eaten by time
And the sound of the bells of Oxford, O

But that was in June when our love was new
Now the long purples all have perished, O
She's gone, she's gone, I'll never speak of stars again
Nor the sound of the bells of Oxford, O