The threat, so dark on the horizon
Seemed far too strong to fight
The only hope, we thought, was running
Under cover of the night

But we disdained to follow,
To leave the life we knew
So we stayed, and they betrayed us
When they flew

Those who refused to stay
Are slaves to a different way
They fear every dawning day
What did they hope to find:
Passage or peace of mind?
Are these what they left behind?

The danger passed for us who met it,
But some did not survive
The ones who stayed do not regret it,
The slain or the alive

But those who left are doomed to wander,
To flee the hated foe
Though the menace is no longer,
They don't know

Those who refused to stay
Are slaves to a different way
They fear every dawning day
What did they hope to find:
Passage or peace of mind?
Are these what they left behind?

Though they say it's best to live to fight another day,
You can't prolong your life with delay

The menace, dark on the horizon
Seemed far too strong to fight,
But still our hope, we knew, was holding,
Pitting passion versus might

So we would never follow,
Or leave the way we knew
And had they stayed, they might have also
Made it through

Those who refused to stay
Are slaves to a different way
They fear every dawning day
What did they hope to find:
Passage or peace of mind?
Are these what they left behind?