Daedalus and Icarus

By Rocky Steen-Rolfzen & Jeff Rolfzen

Daedalus oh Daedalus

The maker of the labyrinth

Your masterpiece just might become your tomb

You know every bend and corner

But you gave Minos’ daughter

That ball of twine to roll between them rooms

And then Theseus went and slayed that wicked beast

Laid the minotaur’s head at king Minos’ feet

He was hailed a hero, and you were called a cheat

So they locked you up and threw away the key

Icarus oh Icarus

They dragged you right into this

Entombed with your father for his crime

You watched in youthful wonder

And your father he did plunder

Every bird and every candle he could find

And he fashioned up two pairs of ivory wings

Made of feathers, wax, and string

He gave one to you child and one he called his own

As you both stared at the sun and the sea foam

Daedalus and Icarus

They gripped their wings into their fists

As father turned to his one and only son

Said fly too low the sea will soak them

Rise too high the sun will melt them

And the feathers they will fall like fresh snow

And with that father took his flight

Between the cold sea and the hot sunlight

And Icarus watched him, rising out of sight

Then he kicked off and he sailed just like a kite

Icarus and Daedalus

Released from their imprisonment

Father ahead and son behind

Ecstatic with his wings

Young Icarus forgot the things

That his father warned him of upon the beach

And he rose up out of Daedalus’ reach

While the wax dripped down his arms and off his feet

Father called to son as he crashed into the sea

That would bear his name and be his lonesome grave