Lyrics copied from http://www.keelaghan.com/pdf/smallRebellions.pdf
(Keelaghan's own website.)

REBECCA'S LAMENT
(James Keelaghan)

The last time I saw him he'd been swallowed by the wood.
I'd have followed if I could. He'd have stayed had he wanted.
Had he the desire, or had he the will,
I would be with him still, but instead he just haunts me.
I knew when he faded I'd ne'er see him again.
His laughter's embrace would no more me surround.
The chill that went through me is the chilled wind that blows
Through the soft midnight stillness of Chilicote town.

The smell of the blanket he wrapped 'round my shoulders
Comes back to me now on a faint wisp of smoke.
Comes back with vengeance that makes me remember
Those nights 'round the lire, when fond words we spoke.
That blanket was woven in some shattered village
That is gone now forever, may never be found.
His people are scattered, their fondest hopes dashed.
He'd have been better off here in Chilicote town.

I knew from the start just where he stood.
About his intentions, there was no mistake.
To stay meant his dream. So dear to his heart
Was the one thing he knew he must somehow forsake.
He just couldn't see that the old ways were passing.
A new wave was rising and he would be drowned.
And like it or not, the history's written
Not in the forest, but in Chilicote town.

There's sadness in parting from what we hold dear.
There's a danger in staying for fear we'll be lost.
One half of us wishes to live out our dreams;
The other half reckons and counts out the cost.
Thought we may go on to a far greater glory
By knowing where destiny is sure to be found,
I wish him no ill, though I wish him no fame
Than such fame as he'd find here in Chilicote town.

The last time I saw him he'd been swallowed by the wood.
I'd have followed if I could. He'd have stayed had he wanted.

[Recorded by James Keelaghan on "Small Rebellions," 1990. Also recorded by Phil Cooper, Margaret Nelson, and Paul Goelz on their album "Pretty Susan," 1992.]