A song by Seraphino Aurelius Belladonna
The Darkness Never Rushed
A warning that ruin seldom arrives at a gallop; more often, it is admitted by increments and left unchallenged.
- From the album
- As It Ought to Be
- Album sequence
- Track 8 of 14
- First released
- Running time
- 4:48
The matter at hand
What the song concerns
Darkness in this song is patient. It advances through tolerated lies, deferred objections, unattended duties, and the small compromises people excuse because none seems large enough to justify alarm.
By refusing a theatrical villain, the song places responsibility upon the room. Catastrophe is not always imposed from outside; sometimes it is assembled quietly by those who keep waiting for a more convenient moment to resist it.
In his own estimation
Seraphino, upon its composition
We prefer evil to arrive wearing unmistakable colors and declaring itself at the gate. Such villains are convenient. One may oppose them without first examining the compromises already seated at one’s own table.
The darkness I wished to portray had no need of haste. It asked only that each person surrender something small, postpone one objection, neglect one candle. By the time the room perceived night, no single moment appeared responsible. That is precisely how responsibility learneth to hide.
“The darkness never rushed.”
The complete text
Lyrics
Men ask when darkness came
As though it arrived with trumpets
Nay
It entered quietly
And found the door already open
I asked the old man by the gate
Who burned the fields of grain
He shook his head and answered me
No army came this way
No tyrant crossed the river here
No dragon scorched the sky
The darkness found an easier road
We simply looked aside
The darkness never stormed the gates
It never raised a sword
It asked for but a little room
Then asked for something more
No kingdom falleth all at once
No tower breaketh through
The darkest night is seldom born
It groweth into view
A merchant weighed his silver scales
And trimmed them ever so
One coin shall never ruin men
And none objected so
A judge declared that truth could wait
For reasons of the day
The verdict pleased the powerful
The people walked away
The darkness never stormed the gates
It never raised a sword
It borrowed just one honest soul
Then quietly claimed more
No river floodeth in one drop
No mountain sinketh whole
A thousand tiny compromises
May bankrupt any soul
Men forever ask
When did the darkness come
As though it trumpeteth its coming
It doth not
It knocketh once
Then entereth
As a guest
The baker ceased to give the poor
The smith ignored the weak
The teacher feared offending fools
So wisdom dared not speak
The children learned that silence bought
A safer place to stand
Until they could no longer tell
The darkness from the land
The darkness never stormed the gates
It never wore a crown
It found a thousand decent folk
Who would not stand their ground
For evil needeth little strength
When virtue falleth still
The world is seldom lost by hate
But by neglected will
The candle doth not lose to darkness
Because darkness is stronger
It loseth
Because no hand remaineth
To tend the flame
Further evidence