O light the candle, John
   The daylight has almost gone
   The birds have sung their last
   The bells call all to mass
  
   Sit here by my side
   For the night is very long
   There's something I must tell
   Before I pass along
  
   I joined the brotherhood
   My books were all to me
   I scribed the words of God
   And much of history
  
   Many a year was I
   Perched out upon the sea
   The waves would wash my tears,
   The wind, my memory
  
   I'd hear the ocean breathe
   Exhale upon the shore
   I knew the tempest's blood
   Its wrath I would endure
  
   And so the years went by
   Within my rocky cell
   With only a mouse or bird
   My friend; I loved them well
  
   And so it came to pass
   I'd come here to Romani
   And many a year it took
   Till I arrived here with thee
  
   On dusty roads I walked
   And over mountains high
   Through rivers running deep
   Beneath the endless sky
  
   Beneath these jasmine flowers
   Amidst these cypress trees
   I give you now my books
   And all their mysteries
  
   Now take the hourglass
   And turn it on its head
   For when the sands are still
   'Tis then you'll find me dead
  
   O light the candle, John
   The daylight is almost gone
   The birds have sung their last
   The bells call all to mass