Ask all the tamers of tigers

Ask all who sleep in their vans

Ask the prince, the damned, the foolish they...all of them know

Ask any men who eat fire

Ask all who think they know God

Ask the blind, muscled, your father, they...all of them know

See if they tell you a snarling wife on the balustrade is more than a man can bear.

Ask the man who slipped in the bath

Ask his son and his son to be they'll all agree

Ask the landlord, a paper bag, the bald and the fat, the over- under-sexed there's no complexing this fact

Ask the snow, the moon, the killer, ticket taker dreaming in blue

Ask the shadow sleeping in alleys

Ask the Conquerer too, they...all of them know

See if they tell you a snarling wife on the balustrade is more than a man can bear