It’s too easy to enter the churches And beg for your salvation, Face the priest who sits in the grey light And forgives you for all that you’ve done. But keep quiet, great Jacques, What do you know of the Lord? A hymn and maybe an icon, You know that’s nothing at all. It’s too easy when wars are over To go out shouting that it was out last, Bourgeois friend, I envy you When you look straight through our graveyards. But keep quiet, great Jacques, What do you know about war? Let them all weep with joy; You were never a soldier before. It’s too easy for love to die away, Especially when it’s stretched too far. It’s too easy to weep like all men weep, As if love were forever. But keep quiet, great Jacques, What do you know about love? Some blue eyes, some blonde hair, You don’t know what you’re speaking of. But keep quiet, great Jacques, Tell yourself at the day’s end; It’s too easy to just pretend.
