Song for Talymar (with Eislinn's theme)

Song for Talymar (with Eislinn's theme)
Summer, 1987

What can I find for to give to my lady
A token to show her my faith and my love
Her strength is her beauty, her beauty unceasing
She's the love of my life, and I live in her love

Gold has a glimmer that's ever unchanging
Silver is secret and silent of hue
but for all their great value, they cannot buy happiness
They're as cold as the clay when the summer is through

The finest of rubies, the fairest of emeralds,
The greatest and roundest of pearls I could bring
but her beauty lacks nothing, no gem can surpass her
And when they adorn her their sparkle grows dim

(theme for Eislinn once alone, then played with next verse)

If I could reach up to the sun in the heavens
I'd slow down his course for a moment or two
For the days pass too quickly, the nights have no mercy
A wink of an eye and a season is through

If days grew like flowers, I'd gather her ten thousand
And still I would weep that I'd brought her no more
For each fragrant petal, each moment together
Is worth more by far than the ransom of kings

(Eislinn's theme and variations)

I'll win her a kingdom, I'll conquer an empire
I'll throne her with honour and crown her with fame
And if all the world should resolve into nothing
Still the stars in the heavens will echo her name

(Eislinn's theme, fading out)

Eislinn suffered from breast cancer, the same disease as Menya. When Talymar won the Midrealm crown a second time,
it was hoped she was cured, but she recurred while they were still heirs. At her insistence, they carried on with the reign,
which was one of the most glorious in Midrealm history. She was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments
even during Pennsic. Everyone understood by that point that her disease was likely terminal, and many songs were written
and gifts given. Menya wrote this for Talymar, since she knew him fairly well, but barely knew Eislinn, and because she sensed
his frustration at being unable to prevent the inevitable. He liked it because it wasn't depressing like so many others.

When she was diagnosed in April of 1996, Menya dealt with it in part by playing the harp for hours every day.
She played this song a lot.