1. |
Idylls Of The King
07:28
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Ice on summer seas a doubtful throne
Gone is the man who pulled sword from stone
Now I know not what I am – nothing but a voice
Calling through death-white mist
Crown wrought from the dying light of stars
Topples from my brow
Days of old and days to be fade from sight
Hollow are the helmets of the slain
Deep beneath the earth
Mighty bones of ancient men turn to dust
Rains fall on the ruins of a realm
Unrecalled in song
Waters fey reclaimed the sword of the king
Fled now is the music from the halls
Dry the drinking horn
Choirs robed in holy light sing for me
Now I know not what I am
Am I but king of the dead?
And I find nothing is left
Naught but this blade, dormant in grave-cold hands
Where are those I used to love?
Under the ground, swords rusted away
Will this slumber break, and will I rise?
Banish the frost that blinds weary eyes
Then the host shall ride again
Welcome as the Sun breaking on winter morn
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2. |
Seafarer
07:06
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Sagas unsung for the slain
Eulogies written in water
Lost to memory any name would fade away
Like a dying candle flame
Darken not our doors, O wanderer
You know this doom is yours
Set a course for other shores, O seafarer
And may our bitter hatred fill your sails
Adrift to horizons unknown
Fated to wither in exile
Far away from homely halls and left behind
Is the solace of the past
Farther across the wine-dark sea
With not a star to guide the way
Icy the winds alluring me
To fall to Lethe's endless sleep
Darken not our doors, O wanderer
You know this doom is yours
Set a course for other shores, O seafarer
And may our bitter hatred fill your sails
Ocean winds are singing an elegy morose
Laden with the bittersweet scent of smoke
Know that youth is spent, and greyer days await
Harken to the sullen sound of rain weeping heavy tears
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3. |
In Darkness Veiled
06:36
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I drank of your font, sweet oil of vitriol
Danced on light feet in your sunshine
Intoxicated by your fragrance
Oh life! I exalted in your light
But now your golden rays reach me not
In lustreless forests I falter
Bleeding and weary with every step I take
Can you hear the clatter of the gyves?
Wounds soaked in bitterness strike through upon the coverlet
No salve to ease the sting where the rapier rushed in
Idle hands reach for the rope’s caress
Restless eyes look to the bough
Back broken, legs fettered, arms open wide
From tenebrosity I limp towards the light
Will the candle burn for me, will the sun still rise?
Can the hand of grace still lift the darkness from these eyes?
‘Behold thineself,’ whispered the mage
As I knelt by the water’s edge
‘Whose ghostly visage is illuminated here?
Whose are these cold and distant eyes?’
Hemp and holly bind the limbs
And hessian lets through a crimson stain upon the floor
Where footsteps fall no more
Who will listen for my penance to be read?
Who will weep for me when the last drop is shed?
Back broken, legs fettered, arms open wide
From tenebrosity I limp towards the light
Will the candle burn for me, will the sun still rise?
Can the hand of grace still lift the darkness from these eyes?
Then in the black wold, a candle burns low
From uncertainty I crawl towards your glow
Where pain is not my mistress, nor agony my throne
Shall I see your face again, or walk the dark alone?
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4. |
Time And The Gods
07:20
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On fleetest wings flies the mortal soul
From winter’s chill into homely halls
Great is the storm, fragile is the candle
The night is falling - few are they who truly see the dawn
Life's flame burns low
Smoke drapes the embers
Where the Lethe flows
No man remembers
In the embrace of a shroud of weeds
Headstones effaced by the centuries
Sad epitaphs, how they whisper through the ivy
The night is falling – restless is the sand within the glass
Bones turn to dust
In soil once sanctified
Ironwork to rust
Bright faces petrified
Hope's flame burns low
Smoke drapes the embers
Where the Lethe flows
No powers venture
As the twilight yields to darkness
As mountains turn to sand
Like the mindless march of entropy
The river finds the sea
O father Aion cradle me
In thy beneficent arms
Hark not to Chronos calling thee
With voice venefic and fell
There is a distant truth to seek
Beyond the waters of death
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5. |
Across Grey Waters
04:18
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As the sun falls from the sky
Waning crescent rises high
Through bleary and forsaken eyes
To Hecate’s torch I gaze
Standing tall upon the prow
Western shores I leave you now
To wear the wreath upon my brow
Of fragrant asphodel
Four times born of suffering
I have four times come forth to die
And now the Lethe’s waters cry
To me to drink my fill
Hark, I hear your birdsong! O Elysium sweet field
How I long to bathe in your crystal waters
Tread your white sands, walk the golden path
Through Elysian meadows – into the evermore
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6. |
Devouring Fire
10:21
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Like hemlock wilfully drunk to the drains
A draught to dull the limbs and still the anguished heart
Flames consume the curse, and cleansing currents rush
And still I am unquenched, unforged
Tongues of fire take me, your hunger will I sate
Carry off in choking plumes these memories unmade
This pyre blazing becomes a beacon for the lost
They who wander in the dark whose names will be forgot
Sweet maiden speak your vengeance
And ride your steed into the flames
See the heavens tumble, hear the raven cry
Borne on swift wings of hatred
Their doom the gods will find in thee
They who reigned as tyrants will meet a mortal end
The well is poisoned, overflowing, and deeply shall I drink again
To wander dark delirious woods in nighted lands forlorn
Like venom’s wicked taint drawn from a wound
To drown in slumber endless and wake on shores unknown
Flames consume the curse, and cleansing currents rush
And still I am unquenched, unforged
Tongues of fire take me, your hunger will I sate
Carry off in choking plumes these memories unmade
This pyre blazing becomes a beacon for the lost
They who wander in the dark whose names will be forgot
The shadows lengthen, engulfing hills in graven shade
Ashes scattered to the wind, of progeny unnamed
The veil is lifted, the pyre doused with flowing tears
Build a cairn upon my bones for every eye to see
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