The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #105997   Message #2311227
Posted By: GUEST,Barc
09-Apr-08 - 01:01 PM
Thread Name: BS: "Missing the Getaway" Tavern
Subject: RE: BS: "Missing the Getaway" Tavern
Here's the complete text:

This for the friends we had of old,
Friends for a lifetime's love and cheer.
This for the friends who come no more,
Who cannot be among us here.
We'll not forget, while we're alive,
These hallowed dead, these deeds of fame.
Where they have gone, we follow soon
Into the darkness and the flame.

Then we shall rise, our duty done,
Freed from all pain and sorrow here;
We'll leave behind ambition's sting
And keep alive our honor dear.
And they will stand beside us then,
All whom we loved and hoped to see;
And they shall sing, a glad AMEN,
To cheer that final victory.

Bring me my bow of burning gold;
Bring me my arrows of desire;
Bring me my ship — O clouds unfold —
Bring me my chariot of fire.
We shall not cease our faithful watch,
Nor shall the sword sleep in our hand,
Till we have gone beyond the stars
To join that fair immortal band.

—Elizabeth Moon, after William Blake's "Jerusalem".

(I don't have a copy of the book with me; I'm not sure whether it actually names the song there. I call it "This for the Friends".