The bleak song inspired this month’s sonnet was released in 1965 by a songwriter who went on to perform in a well-known duo. Its lyrics describe isolation from the perspective of an intellectual young man who has retreated into solitude after having his heart broken.
BEHIND A MIGHTY WALL
Alone am I one dark December day
And gazing from my window at the snow
A fortress I have built to keep at bay
The people I see wandering below.
No need of friends have I. I feel disdain
for laughter and for love. I have no call
for people. They have caused me only pain
A rock I am, behind a mighty wall.
Of love pray do not speak. It fell asleep
inside me, where the bitter mem’ries lie.
Had I not loved, I’d have no cause to weep,
so now I shall not wake it. Let it die.
From books I’ve made a shield. From now I’ll be
an island in a bleak and empty sea.
Solution
The song is ‘I Am A Rock’, by Paul Simon.
