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Song for Petiron

The tears I feel today

I’ll wait to shed tomorrow,

Though I’ll not sleep this night

Nor find surcease from sorrow.

My eyes must keep their sight;

I dare not be tear-blinded.

I must be free to speak;

Not choked with grief, clear-minded.

My tongue cannot betray

The anguish that I know.

I’ll keep my tears ‘till later

But my grief will never go.

​

Sweet Sea (My Nightly Craft)

My nightly craft is winged in white;

A dragon of night-dark sea.

Swiftborn, dreambound and rudderless;

Her captain and crew are me.

 

Oh sweet sea, oh dear sea

Take me far from shore,

But bear me safely to my Hold

When morning comes once more.

 

The fickle wind’s my foe,

With tide his keen ally.

They’re jealous of my sea’s love

And taunt her with their lie.

 

Oh sweet sea, oh dear sea,

Heed not their stormy wile

But bear me safely to my Hold

And from their watery trial.

 

I sail a hundred sleeping tides

Where no seaman’s ever been.

And only my white-winged craft and I

Know the marvels we have seen.

 

Oh sweet sea, oh dear sea,

Take me far away from shore,

But bear me safely to my Hold

When morning comes once more.

​

Gather Day/The Harper’s Glass

[Chorus]

Gather! Gather! It’s a gather day!

No work for us, and Thread’s away.

 

Market stalls appearing,

The square has been swept clear,

To gather all from far and near.

Bring your marks and bring your wares,

Bring your family for there’s

Food and drink, dance and song.

The Hold flag flies, so gather along!

 

[Chorus]

 

Finest wine from Benden,

Scorching bubbly pies,

“One mark for six!” the baker cries.

Runners at the starting line,

Holders in their robes so fine,

Journeymen from far and wide,

Crafters brought by wind and tide.

 

[Chorus]

 

Stew pots simmer on the fire,

Harpers form a gather choir.

Joyful music, merchant’s calls

Echoing around the halls.

 

[Chorus]

 

Glowbaskets on standards

Cast their golden light,

While shadows dance into the night.

 

[Chorus]

​

The Little Queen

The little queen all golden

Flew hissing at the sea.

To stop each wave

Her clutch to save

She ventured bravely.

 

As she attacked the sea in rage

A holderman came nigh

Along the sand

Fishnet in hand

And saw the queen midsky.

 

He stared at her in wonder

For often he’d been told

That such as she

Could never be

Who hovered there, bright gold.

 

He saw her plight and quickly

Looked up the cliff he faced

And saw a cave

Above the wave

In which her eggs he placed.

 

The little queen all golden

Upon his shoulders stood

Her eyes of blue

Aglow with true

Undying gratitude.

​

Sunset’s Gold

The blackest night must end in dawn,

The sun dispel the dreamer’s fear.

When shall my soul’s bleak, hopeless pain

Find solace in its darkening Weyr?

 

Harper, your song has a sorrowful sound

Though the tune was written as gay.

Your voice is sad, your hands are slow,

And your eye meeting mine turns away.

 

Harper, tell me of the road

That leads beyond this Hold,

That wends its way beyond the hill.

Does it go further on until

It ends in sunset’s gold?

​

Brekke’s Cry

[Chorus]

Don’t leave me alone!

A cry in the night

Of anguish heart-striking

Of soul-killing fright.

 

Awakened in darkness

Bursting with thoughts not our own

Choking, burning, falling, dying.

 

[Chorus]

 

Live for my living,

Or else I must die.

Live! Live!

The world heard that cry.

​

(Variant 1)

Live for my living,

Or else I must die.

Don't leave me alone!

A world heard that cry.

 

[Chorus]

​

Run!

Far away from Hold, far away from Hall,

From the safety of stone and steel,

I had ventured far on my own

To find spiderclaws for my creel.

And as feet may wander, minds do, too,

Losing touch with distance and time

But when the sky turned black with dragons overhead

And I knew I was about to die, I had to

 

[Chorus]

Run! Run! Run! No time to think, stop or stay, just

Run! Run! Run! I want to live to see the end of this day.

 

Then my feet took off, my legs went, too,

And my body was obliged to follow.

Me with my hands and mouth full of cress

And my throat too dry to swallow.

I thought I’d run before—been running all my life,

Never doubting I could hold my own.

But faster than I’ve ever been is still not fast enough,

Though I’m straining every muscle and bone to

 

[Chorus]

 

I have never yet been run off my feet

But this nearly ran the feet off of me;

Wore right through the bottoms of my old battered boots

‘Till the soles began to bleed.

I thought I’d run before—been running all my life,

Never doubting I could hold my own.

But when the sky turns black with dragons overhead

Then you know you’ve got to

 

[Chorus]

 

Run! Run! Run! No time to think, stop or stay,

Run! Run! Run!

​

Four Hundred Turns

Four hundred turns in the black of night;

Four hundred turns of Rukbat's sun bright;

Four hundred turns never a Thread

 Dropped on Pern from the wand'ring Red Star.

Four hundred turns to discard

As needless the Weyrs, and to disregard

The warnings sent down through ages in song,

That all must give honor to those who belong

In mind and in heart to the great winged beasts

Whose flaming breath on gray Threadfall feasts.

"Four hundred turns," Lord Holders said,

"We've nothing to fear from mythical Thread."

​

But the Finger Rock points upon Benden Weyr rim

To an Eye Rock red in the dawn sky dim.

So F'lar, Weyrleader, bronze Mnementh's man,

Prepares the Weyr as well as he can.

With Records dust old, and a sharp, clear mind,

He readies Pern with what help he can find.

Thanks to Lessa, his Weyrmate, and Ramoth her queen,

He rallies his scant force to go time between.

When black dust blows cold warning to all

That at dawn over Nerat, live Thread will fall.

"Four hundred tithe-paying turns we have scorned,

And never a Thread since our grandsires were born."

​

Then the vineflowers' eyes peered out through the dawn

On the mythical menace they all swore was gone.

And the riders braved Thread as it fell from space

In a desperate battle between time and place.

With fearful mind, Lord Holders came

Show'ring plaudits on Benden's proud name,

Begging to know what help they might give

Now they had witnessed that Pern could not live

Without these bold riders abroad in the sky

Searing the Threadfall as they flamed by.

Four hundred turns the Weyr was alone,

Few were the dragons where many had flown.

​

In Ruatha's great hall hung a tapestry fair,

Depicting a scene with dragons midair

And footmen who guided bright flame.

So Benden's Weyrwoman, Lessa by name,

Gold Ramoth's rider, of Ruatha's bloodline,

Saw in these woven strands beckoning signs

That would take her gold dragon between timeless space,

Bringing forward the lost Weyrs in a star-guided race.

Four hundred turns of a cold black as death,

Robbing the riders of all sense and breath.

​

In four hundred turns let Pern honor still,

Lessa and Ramoth of time-conquering will,

Praise Fandarel's craft, and F'lar's brave stand,

Which have preserved our Thread-free land.

In four hundred turns let no man say

That Weyrs serve no purpose, tradition is dead,

That Pern is not threatened by Red Star or Thread.

Honor those riders the great dragons heed

Lest dragonless, all rediscover the need.

Four hundred turns ago, four hundred hence,

Honor the dragons—Pern's defense.

​

The Duty Song

Oh we must give honor to those dragons heed

In thought and in favor, in word and in deed,

For our world will be lost or our world will be saved

From those dangers that are by the dragons braved.

​

Weaver and farmer and miner and smith,

Tanner and herdsman, all Lord Holders with

Our harpers attuned to the lessons we learn,

Remember our dusty to those who save Pern.

​

We'll nurture our dragons, the queens rule their bands;

Their clutches will shell on the Hatching Ground sands.

We'll Search out the riders who will love and endure

With their dragonmates keeping our planet secure.

​

We rise from the Weyr on our dragonmates bold,

Aloft in the sky, bronze, brown, blue, green, and gold.

Wheeling and turning, the hungry Threads burning,

A dragon must fly when there are Threads in the sky.

​

Oh, Lord of the Hold, you must keep your charge sure

Behind metal doors with your people secure.

See well to the herdbeast, keep cellars well stored,

Lest Fall leave you hungry and Holdless and scored.

​

Oh, we must give honor to those dragons heed

In thought and in favor, in word and in deed,

For our world will be lost or our world will be saved

From those dangers that are by the dragons braved.

​

Golden Egg of Faranth

By the Golden Egg of Faranth,

By the Weyrwoman, wise and true,

Breed a flight of bronze and brown wings,

Breed a flight of green and blue.

Breed riders, strong and daring,

Dragon-loving, born as hatched.

Flight of hundreds soaring skyward,

Man and dragon fully matched.

 

By the teaching of the Harpers,

Healer, fisherman and smith,

From the chambers of the Crafthalls

Forge our destiny in myth.

Raise a glass in praise of weavers,

Give the Lord Holders their due,

And in all things trust the weyrfolk

For their cause is just and true.

 

From the distant, burning Red Star,

Shining strands of silver Thread.

Heed the warning of the Star Stones,

Hear the whispers of the dead.

Hail the dragons and their riders,

Perched on high in lofty Weyrs.

Watch the skies while Pern lies sleeping,

Learn the lessons of the years.

​

Fighting Thread

Wheel and turn or bleed and burn.

Fly between, blue and green.

Soar, dive down, bronze and brown.

Dragonmen must fly when Threads are in the sky.

​

The Question Song

Gone away, gone ahead,

Echoes roll unanswered.

Empty, open dusty dead.

Why have all the Weyrfolk fled?

 

Where have dragons gone together,

Leaving Weyrs to wind and weather,

Setting herdbeasts free of tether.

Gone, our safeguards, gone, but wither?

 

Have they flown to some new Weyr

Where cruel Threads some others fear?

Are they worlds away from here?

Why, oh why the empty Weyr?

​

Lessa's Ride

Black, blacker, blackest,

And cold beyond all frozen things.

Where is between when there is naught

To life but fragile dragon wings?

​

Cold as death, death-bearing;

Stay and die, unguided;

Brave and braving, linger—

This way was twice decided.

​

A fleck of red in a cold night sky,

A drop of blood to guide them by.

Turn away, turn away, turn, be gone.

A Red Star leads the riders on.

​

(Variant 1)

A fleck of red in a cold night sky,

A drop of blood to guide them by.

Turn away, turn away, turn, be gone.

A Red Star beckons the travelers on.

​

How shall they last the long journey,

Lured on but by this woven star?

How can they find that which they seek

And make their way home from afar?

​

What can they say to bring forward

The Weyrfolk from another time?

Is hope merely illusion that clings to life in desperate minds?

​

Yet promise lives by those of heart,

Salvation lies within the song.

Revealed by Lessa, Weyrwoman

There will be five Weyrs strong!

​

March of the Wings

Drummer, beat, and piper, blow,

Harper, strike, and soldier, go.

Free the flame and sear the grasses

‘Till the dawning Red Star passes.

 

From the Weyr and from the Bowl,

Bronze and brown and blue and green,

Rise the dragonmen of Pern,

Aloft, on wing, seen, then unseen.

 

(Variant 1)

Dragonmen avoid excess;

Greed will bring the Weyr distress.

To the ancient Laws adhere,

Prospers thus the dragonweyr.

 

(Variant 2)

Weyrman watch, Weyrman learn

Something new in every turn.

Oldest may be coldest, too.

Sense the right, find the true!

 

(Variant 3)

Weaver, miner, harper, smith,

Tanner, farmer, herdsman, Lord,

Gather, wingsped, listen well

To the Weyrman’s urgent word.

​

Wind Blossom's Song

A thousand voices keen at night;

A thousand voices wail;

A thousand voices cry in fright;

A thousand voices fail.

​

You followed them, young healer lass,

'Till they could not be seen.

A thousand dragons made their loss

A bridge 'tween you and me.

​

And in the cold and darkest night

A single voice is heard.

A single voice, both clear and bright;

It says a single word.

​

That word is what you now must say

To open up the door

In Benden Weyr to lead the way

To all my healing lore.

​

It's little I can give to you

To save both Weyr and Hold.

It's little I can offer you

Who paid with dragon gold.