Danaids: Fifty Knives At Dawn

Fifty daughters bound by blood and fear
Father's voice like thunder in our ears
"Take the blade, fulfill your destiny
Murder love for our family's victory"

Wedding veils now stained with crimson tears
Sacred vows dissolved in mortal fears
Cousins sleep beside their virgin brides
Not knowing death awaits when darkness hides

Sisters, can't you see the madness here?
Love could conquer all if we hold dear
The sacred bond that marriage should create
Must we seal our husbands' bitter fate?

Fifty knives at dawn will rise
Forty-nine will close their eyes
To mercy's call, to love's sweet plea
But I won't kill for father's decree
Fifty knives at dawn will fall
One will answer conscience's call
Hypermnestra stands alone
Breaking chains of blood and bone

Lynceus sleeps so peaceful by my side
Gentle soul with nothing left to hide
How can I destroy this tender heart?
Father's curse has torn my world apart

Sisters creep like shadows through the halls
Death's sweet song through marble chambers calls
Daggers gleam in cold moonlight so pale
Forty-nine will tell their husband's tale

Sisters, can't you see the madness here?
Love could conquer all if we hold dear
The sacred bond that marriage should create
Must we seal our husbands' bitter fate?

Fifty knives at dawn will rise
Forty-nine will close their eyes
To mercy's call, to love's sweet plea
But I won't kill for father's decree
Fifty knives at dawn will fall
One will answer conscience's call
Hypermnestra stands alone
Breaking chains of blood and bone

Wake up, my beloved, you must flee
Father's rage will soon fall upon me
Take this warning, run into the night
I choose love over duty's poisoned bite

Morning comes with cries of grief and shame
Forty-nine have played their father's game
Blood runs red through palace marble floors
Death has entered through our wedding doors

But I stand trial for my heart's true choice
Prison walls can't silence love's sweet voice
Let them judge me for my mercy's crime
I'll find peace in love's eternal rhyme

Fifty knives at dawn did rise
Forty-nine closed their eyes
To mercy's call, to love's sweet plea
But I won't kill for father's decree
Fifty knives at dawn have fell
One escaped from this living hell
Hypermnestra paid the price
For choosing love's sacrifice

In Tartarus they carry water still
Endless task on that eternal hill
But love lives on in Lynceus and me
Proving conscience sets the spirit free