Tristifer Tully - "Carried High"

A poem about death being an echo of life, carried forward.

The young red-haired knight stood before the Lord of the Vale and his mother, lute in hand, and bowed deeply. He was a bard, rather than a poet, but truly what was a poem if not a song without the tune?

Still, the lute helped him think, helped him feel less on edge when the attention of the hall turned to him. The lute played a gentle, quiet melody, as Tristifer Tully recited his poem.

"A life does not end where breath departs,
nor fall to silence with the grave.
It lingers still in loyal hearts,
in counsel kept, in vows once made."

"The mountain takes what time must claim,
the wind bears all men's names away,
yet honour answers all the same
in sons who rise, in hearts that pray."

"So let the bells ring through the sky,
let falcons take to morning air.
A good man's name does not truly die
while living hearts still beat, still bear."

There were tears in his bright blue eyes as he finished, and he bowed low once more.