Hmmmm...I'm very curious where you found this....it has a decided Celtic feel to it, doesn't it?? ....skandagupta wrote: The corbies sing up above the grey wilderness
it`s gore that thaws this people in frore
behold how gleams the welkin
it beckons us over the swarthy stream
The weak fall into pitchblack vortex
when braves stride to riverbend
across the eternity the song rings
beckoning brethren across the swarthy stream
edit: usual typos
"Corbie" is a very Scottish word for raven or crow...and your passage reminded me of the rather stark Scottish version of the more syrupy English ballad, "The Three Ravens".... The Scottish version is called the "Twa Corbies"..."Two Ravens" and here it is with a bit of a translation.....:
The Twa Corbies
As I was walking all alane, ...................As I was walking all alone,
I heard twa corbies making a mane; .......I heard two ravens making noise (moan)
The tane unto the t'other say,...............The one to the other said
'Where sall we gang and dine to-day?' ......"Where shall we go and dine today?"
'In behint yon auld fail dyke,................."In behind that wall over there."
I wot there lies a new slain knight; .........Lies a newly killed knight;
And naebody kens that he lies there, .......And nobody knows that he lies there,
But his hawk, his hound, and lady fair......But his hawk, his hound and his GF/wife....
'His hound is to the hunting gane,...........His hound has gone hunting
His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl hame,......His hawk has gone to catch some wild birds
His lady's ta'en another mate,...... .........His GF/wife has taken another mate
So we may mak our dinner sweet............So we may quietly enjoy our dinner
'Ye'll sit on his white hause-bane, ...........We'll sit on his white breast-bone
And I'll pike out his bonny blue een;.........We'll pluck out his bonny blue eyes
Wi ae lock o his gowden hair ................With a lock of his golden hair
We'll, theek our nest when it grows bare....We'll line our nest.
'Mony a one for him makes mane,............Many will grieve him
But nane sall ken where he is gane;..........But no one will know where he has gone
Oer his white banes, when they we bare, ..Over his white bones, when they are bare
The wind sall blaw for evermair.' ............The wind shall blow for evermore.
Meaning of unusual words:
twa=two
corbies=crows (or ravens)
fail dyke=wall of turf
wot=know
kens=knows
hause-bane=neck bone
een=eye
theek=thatch