Songs of Love, and Loss of Love

 … down by the seashore,
where the waters foam white,
Hang your head over; hear the winds's flight.
The east wind loves sunshine,
And the west wind loves night.
The north blows alone, dear,
And I fear the light.
You've taken my heart, dear,
Beyond the winds' night.
The fires you have kindled
last longer than light.

 … last longer than light, dear,
when the waters foam white;
Hang your head over; hear the wind's flight.
The fires you have kindled
Will last out my night.
Soon I will die, dear,
On the mountains' cold height.
The steel wind blows truth, dear,
Beyond my blade's might.

 … beyond my blade's might, dear,
where the waters foam white;
Hang your head over; hear the wind's flight.
I told you the truth, dear,
Right from the start.
I wanted your love, dear,
With all of my heart.
Sometimes you hurt me,
And sometimes we fought,
But now that you've left me,
My life's been for naught.
My life's been for naught, dear,
when the waters foam white;
So hang your head over, and hear the wind's flight.
So hang your head over, and hear the wind's flight.

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 381-382 535)

(The Order War, 133-134 267-268 {pb 162 330-331})

[Note: Song formatted as in Order War]

Ask not the song to be sung,
Or the bell to rung,
Or if my tale is done.
The answer is all-and none.
The answer is all-and none.

Oh, white was the color of my love,
As bright and white as a dove,
And white was he, as fair as she,
Who sundered my love from me.

Ask not the tale to be done,
The rhyme to be rung,
Or if the sun has sung.
The answer is all-and none.
The answer is all-and none.

Oh, black was the color of my sight,
as dark and black as the night,
and dark was I, as dark as sky,
whose lightning bared the lie.

Ask not the bell to be rung,
or the song to be sung,
or if my tale is done.
The answer is all-and none.
The answer is all-and none.

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 124-125 173-174 327 535)

(The Order War, 268-269 {pb 332})

"The Sybran Song"
When the snow drops on the stone,
When the wind song's all alone,
When the iceswords form in twain,
Sing of the hearths where we've lain.
When the green tips break the snow,
When the cold streams start to flow,
When the snow hares turn to black,
Sing out to call our love back.
When the plains grass whispers gold,
When the red blooms flower bold,
When the year's foals gallop long,
Hold to the fall and our song …

(Fall of Angels, 102 The Chaos Balance, 127)

 … catch a falling fire; hold it to the skies;
never let it die away.
For love may come and fill your empty eyes
with the light of more than day …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 340)

 … I would not live without you,
like aching souls I know,
like older men with hearts of stone,
who chose to live alone …
I would not love without you,
like empty homes I've seen …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 340)

You are the fire of my nights,
the light of my days,
and the end of my wand'ring ways.
You are … you are … you are
the sun in the skies.

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 341)

 … high upon highland, the brightest of days,
I thought of my lover, and his warm, loving ways …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 433)

 … and in the summer, and under the trees,
my love will lift you across the farthest seas …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 440)

I watched my love sail out to sea,
His hand was deft; he waved to me.
But then the waters foamed white and free
Just as my love turned false to me.
Oh, love is wild, and love is bold,
The fairest flower when e'er it is new,
But love grows old, and waxes cold
And fades away like morning dew …

(The Magic Engineer, 211 {pb 259} The Order War, 135 {pb 164})

 … sing a song of gold coins,
A pack filled up with songbirds,
A minstrel lusting after love,
And yelling out some loving words …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 327 The Order War, 134 {pb 163})

Westwind Songs

From the skies of long-lost Heaven
to the heights of Westwind keep,
we will hold our blades in order,
and never let our honor sleep.
From the skies of light-iced towers
to the demons' place on earth,
We will hold fast lightnings' powers,
and never count gold's worth.

As the guards of Westwind keep
our souls hold winter's sweep;
We will hold our blades in order,
and never let our honor sleep …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 328[Fragment] Fall of Angels, 150)

[Original: formatted as shown]

Up on the mountain
where the men dare not go,
the angels set guards there
in the ice and the snow.
The guards they are women,
with blades out of steel,
and their hearts they are colder
than any ice you can feel.

Up on the mountain
where the trees do not grow,
the sun seldom shines
nor the rivers do flow.
From out of the Westhorns,
guards march from the stone.
Their blades are the fires,
that slice to the bone.

They'll cut you and leave you
all bleeding and cold,
and no one will find you,
till the mountains grow old.
The rocks they will splinter,
and the snows will fall deep,
and the guards of the mountains
will hold to their keep.

Their castle will stand, dear,
till the whole world is white,
till the Legend's forgotten,
with the demons of light.
Till my songs have been buried
in the depths of the nights,
and all the young men shun
the mountain's chill heights.

Up on the mountain
where the men dare not go,
the angels set guards there
in the ice and the snow.
And there they will stay, dear,
till the whole world is white,
till the Legend's forgotten,
with the demons of light.

Till my songs have been buried
in the depths of the night,
and none of the young men
seek out that cold height;
and none of the young men
seek out that cold height.

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 325-327 339-340)

On the Roof of the World, all covered with white,
I took up my blade there, and I brought back the night.
With a blade in each hand, there, and the stars at my boots,
With the Legend in song, then, I set down my roots.

The demons have claimed you, forever in light,
But the darkness of order will put them to flight,
Will break them in twain, soon, and return you your pride,
For the Legend is kept by the blade at your side.

The blades at your side, now, must always be bright,
And the Legend we hold to is that of the right.
For never will guards lose the heights of the sky,
And never can Westwind this Legend deny …
And never can Westwind this Legend deny.

(Fall of Angels, 211 The Chaos Balance, 31)

 … honor bright, honor bright …
 … from the mountain's height …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 440)

Oh, Nylan was a smith, and a mighty mage was he.
With lightning hammer and anvil of night forged he.
From the Westhorns tall came the blades and bows of the night,
Their lightning edges gave the angles forever the height.

Oh, Nylan was a mage, and a mighty smith was he.
With rock from the heights and lightning blade built he.
On the Westhorns tall stands a tower of blackest stone,
And it holds back the winter's snows and storms all alone …

(Fall of Angels, 341 The Chaos Balance, 127  245)

Misc Songs

"Dashing Young Man" - Anonymous Sarronnese.

This song is probably to the tune of the real world
'Those Magnificent Young Men in Their Flying Machines'

The dashing young man on the wind-bearing skis,
He flew down the cliff with the greatest of ease,
A sword on his pack and his soul in the breeze,
That dashing young man on the wind-bearing skis.

With fury to heel and his gray silver hair,
He stepped from the heights out over the trees,
And he dropped from the Roof to the magic so fair,
That dashing young man on the wind-bearing skis.

His eyes on the dark and his soul upon ice,
He flew from the Tyrant, a life filled with ease.
He left behind wealth for love without price,
That dashing young man on the wind-bearing skis.

The soldiers, they searched for many a year.
They ripped down the mountains and tore up the trees,
But never they found what they never could hear,
That dashing young man on the wind-bearing skis.

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 187 The Magic Engineer, pb 261)

 … harp strings tell the story's old,
from when the angels fled the fold,
and yet you sing that truth is strong,
when every note you strike is wrong.
Should I trust what singing brings,
when hatred hides in silvered strings?

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 219)

The way is the way,
as the west mountains are.
The way is the way,
as solid as the sunset towers,
and the southern seas.
The way is the way,
as all life is sorrow.
The way is the way,
as all sorrow is joy.

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 351)

If I'd held scores of flowers,
or laid within my lady's bowers …
If I'd held reigning powers,
or struck down the sunset's towers …

(The Order War, 135 {pb 164})

When I was single, I looked at the skies.
Now I've a consort, I listen to lies,
lies about horses that speak in the darks,
lies about cats and theories of quarks …

(Fall of Angels, 102 The Chaos Balance, 127)

 … and who will rock you to sleep?
Your daddy will rock and sing you a song,
There's only a cradle and nothing is wrong.
When the sun has set and the stars are so high,
I'll rock you and hold you 'til morning is nigh …

(Fall of Angels, 358)

 … hush little girl, and don't you sigh,
Daddy's forging toys by and by,
and if those toys should fail to please,
Daddy's going to sing and put you at ease …

(The Chaos Balance, 60)

Oh, my dear, my dear little child,
What can we do in a place so wild,
Where the sky is so green and so deep
And who will rock you to sleep?
Your daddy is leaving; he's going away
There's only a cradle and nothing to say,
but when the stars shine over the western sky,
try to remember that he once said good-bye.

(The Chaos Balance, 67)

A captain is a funny thing, a spacer with a net,
an angel gambling with her death, who never lost a bet.
The captain, she took us to those demon-towers,
then brought us back right through Heaven's showers …

(Fall of Angels, 101)

Ask not what a man is,
that he scramble after flattery as he can,
or that he bend his soul to a woman's wish …
After all, he is but a man.
Ask not what a man might be,
that he carry a blade like a fan,
and sees only what his ladies wish him to see …
After all, he is but a man …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 24 327-328 440)

 … holding to the blade,
a-holding to the blade,
He used it like a spade,
A-holding to the blade …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 452)

 … thirteenth day, they said that he was dead,
but up he rose and bashed the captain's head …

Ohhh … wild was the sailor, wild was the sea,
and wilder still the girl they called Maree …

 … he blew so hard the sails came down,
But he rose with the prefect's crown …

Ohhh … wild was the sailor, wild was the sea,
and wilder still the girl they called Maree …

 … wild was the sailor, wild was the sea,
and wilder still the girl they called Maree …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 148-149)

 … la, la, la-la, and the cat would play
with the dog on the spring's first day …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 152)

 … the Duke he went a-hunting,
a-hunting he did go …

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 329 453)

 … if he had a mule, he'd give it to a fool,
and if he had a knife, she'd not be his wife!

(The Towers of the Sunset, pb 450)

Cuera la dierre,
Ne querra dune lamonte,
Pressente da lierra
Queira fasse la fronte …

["Bristan, I think" says Dorrin]

(The Magic Engineer, pb 260)

 … got no horse …got no mare …got no pearls … got no girls …

["Pergun sings, so far off-key that the notes are leaden in the night."]

(The Magic Engineer, pb 262)