The door it opened slowly
My father he came in, I was nine years old
And he stood so tall above me
Blue eyes they were shining
And his voice was very cold
Said, "I've had a vision
And you know I'm strong and holy
I must do what I've been told."
So he started up the mountain
I was running, he was walking
And his ax was made of gold
Well, the trees they got much smaller
The lake a lady's mirror
We stopped to drink some wine
Then he threw the bottle over
Broke a minute later
In  “Suzanne”  it is said that Suzanne holds a mirror up to the speaker’s face – to show him his real face, his real personality. The ‘'Story of Isaac’‘ is the rare occasion of a womanless song in Cohen’s oeuvre but here, symbolized in the lake, the Lady, the archetypical woman, the mother, is present, holding up the mirror to the man’s face to show him the meaninglessness of the deed he is about to commit.
Story of Isaac