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Half-Elven Songs
Tansy and Thyme
My mother died just yesterday
And the deacon read her will,
And an empty place was revealed in my heart
That no shoveled earth could fill.
I had always worked to my strength's true best
And I sang, and she smiled to hear,
But they read her words for her spirit's rest
And I learned I was out on my ear.
All I have is tansy, tansy,
All I have is thyme,
All I have is a fool's love
And I wish that it weren't mine!
All I have are my elven ears
And my freckled human skin,
And the soothing warmth that a fool's love brings
And the sadness clutched within.
To my half-sister go farm and mill
And the breadth of our mother's land,
And a dozen shoving suitors come
Competing for her hand.
The deacon read, "Now, to my second
Daughter, I bequeath
My blessing for the travelers' road
And a mother's love beneath."
All I have is tansy, tansy,
All I have is thyme,
All I have is a fool's love
And I wish that it weren't mine!
All I have are my elven ears
And my freckled human skin,
And the soothing warmth that a fool's love brings
And the sadness clutched within.
My sweetheart sighed as the words were done
And he kissed my forehead too,
Such a human kiss, so fleeting fast,
Short-lived, and ripe with rue.
And everyone saw the half-elf turn
And the tears that I denied
And the angry way that I waved away
The sweetheart at my side.
My sister was happy to see me go,
I could tell as I shouldered my pack,
But my sweetheart followed me down the road
Like the shadow against my back.
I bade him turn, but he shook his head,
Stubborn man with a stubborn jaw.
"If you're outcast, then I'm outcast too,"
He insisted, and they all saw.
All I have is tansy, tansy,
All I have is thyme,
All I have is a fool's love
And I wish that it weren't mine!
All I have are my elven ears
And my freckled human skin,
And the soothing warmth that a fool's love brings
And the sadness clutched within.
A half-elf's arms are a tainted gift
For a debt that is truly owed,
But he holds me and comforts if I weep
On the endless travellers' road.
Decades hence, when he falls, I'll fill his grave
If his loyalty's still wrought true.
He's a human fool, but I love him so,
And without him, what will I do?
All I have is tansy, tansy,
All I have is thyme,
All I have is a fool's love
And I'm so glad that it's mine!
All I have are my elven ears
And my freckled human skin,
And the soothing warmth that a fool's love brings
And the sadness clutched within.
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