[Verse 1]
Let us go then, you and I
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent

[Bridge]
To lead you to an overwhelming question ...
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit

[Chorus]
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo

[Verse 2]
And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides
Rubbing its back upon the window-pane;
There will be time, oh, there will be time
To murder and create
To lift and drop a question on your plate;
For a hundred indecisions
And a hundred more revisions
[Chorus]
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo

[Verse 3]
And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare?”
“Do I dare?” It's time to turn back and descend the stair
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair —
And my morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin
(Still they will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”)
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse

[Bridge]
And to lead you to an overwhelming question ...
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit

[Chorus]
In the room women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo

[Verse 4]
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers on the beach
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each
I don't think that they will sing to me
I'm no prophet — and here’s no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker
[Bridge]
To lead you to an overwhelming question ...
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit

[Chorus]
In the room women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo