W H Auden - The Question lyrics

To ask the hard question is simple: Asking at meeting With the simple glance of acquaintance To what these go And how these do; To ask the hard question is simple, The simple act of the confused will. But the answer Is hard and hard to remember: On steps or on shore The ears listening To words at meeting, The eyes looking At the hands helping, Are never sure Of what they learn From how these things are done, And forgetting to listen or see Makes forgetting easy, Only remembering the method of remembering, Remembering only in another way, Only the strangely exciting lie, Afraid To remember what the fish ignored, How the bird escaped, or if the sheep obeyed. Till, losing memory, Bird, fish, and sheep are ghostly, And ghosts must do again What gives them pain. Cowardice cries For windy skies, Coldness for water, Obedience for a master. Shall memory restore The steps and the shore, The face and the meeting place; Shall the bird live, Shall the fish dive, And sheep obey In a sheep's way; Can love remember The question and the answer, For love recover What has been dark and rich and warm all over?