Half-Elven Songs/Tansy and Thyme
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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.