The Incredible String Band - Down Before Cathay Lyrics

Through red forests that lean against the hills
I wandered with my heart in my hand
My cloak wound down to the shores of Cathay
Where the gold lay scattered on the sand

Night was young back before the dawn
Casting kisses at the day
Shipping the sea bestriding the earth
Down before Cathay

The admirable deeds of Khubla Khan
We admired from the deck of our cedar wood ship
Observing the domes that prance from Mandalay
Where the dogs they sleep all the day

We gazed upon the Towers of Tyre
That rose coarse and spicy in the air
But we sailed up the coast to sidon
Where the gazes are so rare
Where the gazes are so rare

The ship shone its lamp across the silent air
That swirled before Cathay
And there on the sand that courts the amber sea
Our fair bodies we cast away

Night was young back before the dawn
Casting kisses at the day
Sipping the sea bestriding the earth
Down before Cathay