Let Me On, Luna

[a_little_wisp]

Skib wrote a poem about the moon, and I liked it so much, I decided to post one of my old ones about the moon. It is a song I wrote, yes, if you wonder about the repetition. :blush:

Let Me On, Luna


"Greetings, my night friends,
You vagrants, you brigands-
Have we a tale to tell tonight!
Pull up a log then, and sit by the fire,
And I'll toast to the thieves of the world with my lyre!

Let me on, Luna,
Let me on in!
The stars have died out and the sun has gone in,
Let me on Luna,
Let me on in!
Think of us when your journey begins again!


Winter was waning
When Luna came home,
There were tears in her laughter and death in her bones,
Defeated, she sank down,
In grief, she cried out:
'To hell with the good ones,
See how they die!
See how they die,
See how they die,'
Luna sang bitter,
'See how they die!'

Let me on, Luna,
Let me on in!
The stars have died out and the sun has gone in!
Let me on, Luna,
Oh, let me on in!
Think of us when your journey begins again!


A win for the vagrants,
A victory true!
We’ve dug out Love’s grave and we bid him adieu!
We’ve burned all the books and
We’ve blown out the stars,
And we sing to Earth’s death, we sing,
'See how She dies!
See how She dies,
See how She dies!'
The vagrants sang, smiling,

'See how She dies!' "


Here now, the moon rose,
The silence of night grows
The bard sings alto, sings sadly, sings low
"The world is all quiet, we rest now to sleep
But the night in our hearts, forever, we'll keep -

All reason has fled us
Our joy slips away,
Each man for himself now, Love’s lost to decay -
Too many mistakes much
Too hastily made,
Death creeps upon us, oh
See how we die?
See how we die,
See how we die,
Alone we cried, bitter:
'See how we die.'

Let us on, Luna,
Let us on in
To the dawn, to the day, when the night has come in,
Let us on Luna,
Oh, let us on in,
Think of us when your journey begins again."

[Lokasenna]

Crikey! This really needs setting to music. I found myself singing it as I read it! Anyone who thinks that the ballad form is dead could do with reading this.

[Silas Thorne]

Yes, it definitely needs music. Thought the same thing. Started to sing in the head. :)
Thought though, I'm not sure if this is right but, would 'toast to the thieves of the world with my lyre' be a little better? Probably just me.
Wonderful song wisp! :)

[Reccura]

That was amazing! I was beginning to sing it in my head, too. Rather poetic for song, and it's very well done!

Edit: I found the thread. :P

[PrinceMyshkin]

It, and you, are wonderful! You write as naturally as some people breathe when they are simultaneously at rest and madly, madly in love! The only thing that might better this for the reader is to read it again.

[a_little_wisp]

Lokasenna, gwaha- I made you sing! Yay! I grew up reading ballads thanks to Tolkien and other fantasy novelists, and tunes seemed to slip into my head so easily with them. I'm glad I've made other people begin to hear the tunes too! :D

Silas, you are absolutely correct! :blush:The funny thing was, I was singing it like that - I guess I just missed it when I typed it out? Thanks for catching it! Whew! And hey, next time you have to sing out loud, ok? Thanks for reading! :D!

Reccura - Thank you for reading, darling! I'm glad it still works as poetry too, and I'm happy you liked it! :D I've had this one for a good long while, but wasn't sure where or when to stick it in the forums. <3

Prince, well, it certainly didn't come naturally the first time I wrote this. :lol: Not at all. I was probably sixteen or seventeen when I first started humming the tune. The only lines I was sure about were "Let me on Luna, let me on in", "see how she dies", "there were tears in her laughter and death in her bones" -

And then I had some things about... war and glory and something or other, and it was probably about knights and betrayal. I don't even know anymore. Anyway, I'm glad it's come to the point where you have enjoyed it! Thanks so much, Prince! :D

[skib]

Oh Wisp! It was beautiful. Sad, yes, but beautiful as well. I really think it would do just as well with music as without.

[firefangled]

I think you have song in your blood, Wisp and wonderful sense for the ballad. Your rhyming is impeccable.

[ampoule]

I adore the 'chorus'. I want to sing it. Could you hum it for me?

Wouldn't it be neat if there was a feature on litnet that would allow us to record ourselves reading our poems. I would love to hear everyone's voice, in the literal sense.

[~Sophia~]

Wispy, you do have a gift of "the ballad". Lyrical poetry is something that eludes me and I marvel at all the songs at your fingertips! I agree ampoule, I would love to hear Wispy sing this for us!

[a_little_wisp]

Skib, and thank you for saying so! I don't want my songs to he... just songs. What makes them important is the content, right? :D :blush: I'm glad you thought it was beautiful.

Firefangled - you know every comment from you I get a curious case of the blushes. I wish I had song in my blood, but unfortunately, I couldn't handle being a music major (... all you learn about is music, and music is fine, but...). I still practice voice, but can play a only bit of piano and no guitar. I wish I could give my songs more life with accompaniment. :/ I do, however, love the ballad, and I think it's because I was raised around Irish and Welsh ballads.
Thank you for reading though, and thank you for lovely comments!

Ampoule, I'm glad you like the chorus! For awhile now I've been considering posting myself singing some of these (I can post links), but it's just... a little scary! :O

I wish there was a way we could record ourselves. xD I love to listen to people read poetry and short stories aloud!

Sophia - SOPHIA. *hug* Lyrical poetry eludes you, eh? Puh. Yours is still lyrical, just in a different way. Go back and read your 'Canary Monologue'. I love ya, lady.

[AuntShecky]

It's always refreshing when writers step out of the free verse
realm and attempt to try a more structured form, in this case the
very difficult ballad. Well done!