Mortmain

Lyrics

A black writ slept beneath the seal Its letters fed on lampblack rain The dead hand claimed what none could yield And signed my likeness to its name The reeve arrived at candle-fall With ash upon his iron staff He read the charter through the wall And heard another answer laugh Mortmain Loose thy title from me Dead hand Thou shalt not inherit me Strike out the clause Unmake the claim Let neither writ nor grave Possess my name The cressets guttered down the stair The hinges spoke in rusted tongues A sable page stood waiting there With seven warrants in his lungs I broke the signet with my teeth And cast the fragments through the grate The buried hand stirred underneath Too late to close, too late to wait Mortmain Loose thy title from me Dead hand Thou shalt not inherit me Strike out the clause Unmake the claim Let neither writ nor grave Possess my name By attainder, bell, and brand By every oath the dead command I void the covenant they made And leave the creditor unpaid Mortmain Loose thy title from me Dead hand Thou shalt not inherit me Strike out the clause Unmake the claim The dead may keep their kingdom I shall keep my name