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The Hold is barred,
The Hall is bare,
All men vanish.
The soil is barren,
The rack is bald,
All hope banish.
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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Crack dust, black dust,
Turn in freezing air.
Waste dust, space dust,
From Red Star bare.
((this is the refrain from The Ballad of Moreta's Ride, it's all of it I know))
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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The Alarm Chorus
Drummer, beat, Piper, blow,
Harper, strike, Soldier, go,
Free the flame and sear the grasses
Till the dawning Red Star passes.
From the Weyr and from the Bowl,
Bronze and brown and blue and green,
Rise the dragonmen of Pern,
Aloft, on wing; seen, then unseen.
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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The Finger points,
At an Eye blood-red.
Alert the Weyrs,
To sear the Thread.
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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By the Golden Egg of Faranth,
By the Weyrwoman, wise and true,
Breed a flight of bronze and brown wings,
Breen a flight of green and blue.
Breed riders strong and daring,
Dragon-loving, born as hatched.
Flight of hundreds soaring skyward,
Man and dragon fully matched.
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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Eastern Sea Hold Song
The fickle wind's my foe,
With tide his keen ally.
They're jealous of my sea's love,
And rouse her with their lies.
O sweet sea, O dear sea,
Heed not their stormy wile.
But bear me safely to my hold,
And from their watery trial.
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsinger
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Harper your song has a sorrowful sound,
Though the tune was written as gay.
Your voice is sad and your hands are slow,
And your eye, meeting mine, turns away.
((understand right now, 'gay' doesn't mean homosexual. This is the middle English meaning of 'gay', which is happy or joyful.))
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsinger
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Rise in glory,
Bronze and Gold.
Dive entwined,
Enhance the hold.
Count three months and more,
And five heated weeks,
A day or glory,
In a month, who seeks?
A strand of silver
In the sky...
With heat, all quickens,
And all times fly.
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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Red Star Passes
Seas boil and mountains move,
Sands heat, dragons prove,
Red Star passes.
Stones pile and fires burn,
Green whithers, arm Pern.
Guard all passes.
Star Stone watch, sky scan.
Ready the Weyrs, all Riders fly;
Red Star passes.
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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Honor those the dragons heed,
In thought and favor, word and deed.
Worlds are lost and worlds are saved
From those dangers dragon-braved.
Dragonman, avoid excess;
Greed will bring the Weyr distress;
To the ancient Laws adhere,
Prospers thus the Dragon Weyr.
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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Watch-wher, watch-wher,
In your lair,
Watch well, watch-wher!
Who goes there?
Dragonman, Dragonman,
Between thee and thine,
Share me that glimpse of love
Greater than mine.
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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Who wills,
Can.
Who tries,
Does.
Who loves,
Lives.
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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Weyrman, watch; Weyrman, learn,
Something new in every Turn.
Oldest may be coldest, too.
Sense the right; find the true!
Holder, watch; Holder, learn,
Something new in every Turn.
Oldest may be coldest too.
Sense the right; find the true!
((these two stanzas may in fact be the same song adapted for different audiences))
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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Wheel and turn
or bleed and burn.
Fly between,
Blue and green.
Soar, dive down,
Bronze and brown.
Dragonmen must fly
When threads are in the sky.
Worlds are lost or worlds are saved,
By those dangers dragon-braved.
�Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
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Duty Song (CD)
We must give honor
To those dragons heed
In thought and in favor
In word and in deed.
For our world will be lost
Or our world will be saved
From those dangers that are
By the dragons braved.
Weaver and Farmer
And Miner and Smith,
Tanner and Herdsman,
All Lord Holders with
Our harvests atune
To the lessons we learn.
Remember our duty
To those who save Pern.
We'll nurture our dragons
The Queens rule their bands.
Their clutches will shell
On the hatching ground sands.
We'll search out for riders
Who will love an dendure
With their dragonmates
keeping our planet secure.
We rise from the Weyr
On our dragonknights bold.
Aloft in the sky
Bronze, brown, blue, green and gold.
Wheeling and turning,
The hungry Threads burning.
A dragon must fly
When there are Threads in the sky.
O Lord of the Hold
You must keep your charge sure.
Behind metal doors
With your people secure.
Tend well to the Herd Beasts
Keep Cellars well stored
Lest Fall leave you hungry
And holdless and scored.
O we must give honor
To those dragons heed
In thought and in favor
In word and in deed.
For our world will be lost
Or our world will be saved
From those dangers that are
By the dragons braved.
�Anne McCaffrey, Tania Opland, and Mike Freeman
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By the Golden Egg of Faranth (CD)
By the Golden Egg of Faranth
By the Weyrwoman, wise and true.
Breed a flight of bronze and brown wings
Breed a flight of green and blue.
Breed riders strong and daring,
Dragon-loving born as hatched.
Flight of hundreds soaring skyward
Man and dragon fully matched.
By the teachings of the Harpers,
Healer, Fisherman, and Smith,
from the chambers of the Crafthall
Forge our destinies in myth.
Raise a glass in praise of Weavers,
give the Lord Holders their due,
And in all things trust the Weyrfold
For their cause is just and true.
From the distant burning Red Star
Shining strands of silver Thread
Heed the warnings of the Star Stones,
hear the whispers of the dead.
Hail the dragons and their riders
Perched on high in lofty Weyrs
Lay awake while Pern lies sleeping
Learn the lessons of the years.
�Anne McCaffrey, Tania Opland, Mike Freeman
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Fighting Thread (CD)
Wheel and turn
Or bleed and burn.
Fly between,
Blue and green.
Soar, dive down,
Bronze and brown.
Dragonmen must fly when
Threads are in the sky.
((When voices are sufficient this song is performed as a round))
�Anne McCaffrey, Tania Opland, and Mike Freeman
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Red Star Passes (CD)
Seas boil,
Mountains move,
Sands heat,
Dragons prove.
Red Star passes.
Stones pile,
Fires burn,
Green withers,
Arm Pern.
Red Star passes.
Star stones watch,
Scan sky,
Ready the Weyrs,
Riders fly.
Red Star passes.
�Anne McCaffrey, Tania Opland, Mike Freeman
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The Alarm Chorus (CD)
Drummer beat and piper blow,
Harper strike and soldier go.
Free the flame and sear the grasses
'Til the dawning Red Star passes.
From the Weyr and from the bowl,
Bronze and brown and blue and green,
Rise the Dragonmen of Pern,
Aloft, on wing, seen then unseen.
Dragonman avoid excess,
Greed will bring the Weyr distress.
To the ancient laws adhere,
Prospers thus the Dragonweyr.
�Anne McCaffrey, Tania Opland, and Mike Freeman
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Lessa's Ride (CD)
Black, blacker, blackest,
And cold beyond all frozen things.
Where is between when there is naught
To life but fragile dragon wings?
Cold as death, death-bearing
Stay and die, unguided.
Brave and braving, linger-
This way was twice decided.
A fleck of red in a cold night sky.
A drop of blood to guide them by.
Turn away, Turn away, Turn, be gone.
A Red Star leads the riders on.
[refrain]
How shall they last the long journey
Lured on but by this woven star?
How can they find that which they seek
And make their way home from afar?
[refrain]
What can they say to bring forward
The weyrfolk from another time?
Is hope merely illusion
That clings to life in desperate minds?
[refrain]
Yet promise lives by those of heart-
Salvation lies within the song,
Revealed by Lessa, Weyrwoman --
There will be five weyrs strong!
�Anne McCaffrey, Tania Opland, and Mike Freeman
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