Journey / Recollection (Excerpt) [Live]

THE JOURNEY By horse, by rail, by land, by sea, our journey starts Two men incensed by one man's journey from the past In Iceland, where the mountain stood with pride They set off with their guide To reach the mountain side Roped as one for safety through the long descent Into the crater of volcanic rock they went Look up from our telescopic lair, One star for us to share, We continue on our prayer. Crystals of opaque quartz, studded limpid tears, Forming magic chandeliers, lighting blistered galleries. NARRATION Narration 1 Admiring shades of lava which imperceptibly passed from reddish Brown to bright yellow, their way lit by crystals appearing as Lighted globes, they continued through the lava gallery, which Gently sloped until they reached the inter section of two roads. Without hesitation Professor Lidenbrook chose the eastern tunnel. And the journey continued through a succession of arches, appearing Before them as if they were the aisles of a gothic cathedral; the Walls were enhanced with impressions of Rock weeds and mosses from The Silurian epoch. Narration 2 The Eastern route they had taken had come to a dead end. With three Days'walk back to the fork to find Arne Saknussemm's original Route, they found their water rations were limited to one day. Knowing their only chance of finding water was on that route, they Set off for the fork and there finally they fell almost lifeless on The third day. After sleep, they continued down the other tunnel in Their quest for water, and whilst searching on his own, Hans, the Guide, heard the sound of water thundering behind a granite wall, And, with a pick axe, attacked the wall so as to allow a stream of Boiling water to enter and cool in their tunnel. Not only had they Found life in the water but they had also found a flowing guide to The Centre of the Earth. They called the stream the Hansbach. Narration 3 Replenished with the water the journey continued with haste, but Somehow they find themselves separated. Professor Lidenbrook's Nephew Axel found himself alone. His mind was seized with Unparalleled fear and he saw memories of home flashing before him. His fiancee Grauben, his house and friends in Hamburg. He saw Hallucinations of all the incidents of the journey. And, unworthy As he felt, he knelt in fervent prayer and then, in panic, he ran Blindly through a tunnel only to reach a dead end, where he fell Panting for breath. In the darkness he cried... voices... Voices... voices... He heard voices. He heard his uncle's voice. Due to the shape of the gallery and the conducting power of the Rocks, his uncle's voice was uncannily travelling around the Walls. By means of their chronometers they discovered they were Four miles apart, so Axel set about the task of rejoining the Professor and their guide. RECOLLECTION Memories of a life on earth go flashing past, Of home, of Grauben, friends of whom he's seen his last Contemplating what his life's been worth, While trapped beneath the earth, An embryo at birth Pain and fear destroy the beauty I have seen, Of caverns, where no other man has been Silurian epoch hosts me as my grave, My final blow I wave, A life too late to save Crystals of opaque quartz, studded limpid tears, Forming magic chandeliers, lighting blistered galleries NARRATION Narration 4 Suddenly the ground disappeared from beneath his feet. He fell down A vertical shaft, his head hitting a sharp rock. Hhe lost Consciousness. On opening his eyes, he found himself with the Professor and the guide, and, looking around him, he saw an ocean Stretching as faras the eye could see, a giant forest of Mushrooms, a line of huge cliffs, and strange clouds hung Overhead, as he lay on a deeply indented shore of golden sand Strewn with shells. For a moment, he thought he was back on the Surface of the earth, but soon realised that they had reached a World within a world.