I was bought in the market for silver and song,
And I grew in the Songhouse to be noble and strong.
And my songs grew within me, and my voice soon took wing,
And the love cradled 'round me with each note I'd sing.
I dwell in the Songhouse,
And song is my breath.
I'll sing my life long, then in shrouds made of song,
I will sleep at my death.
I was born to be Songbird,
And the song shall be love.
And the music shall rise from the depths of the skies
To the planets above.
As the Emperor's Songbird I was trained from the start.
From the very first teacher who opened my heart
To the people who heard me in the Palace each day,
I have given my music and my spirit away.
I am old now and silent, and my songs are all sung,
And the words of my life now may not pass my tongue.
But the glory still haunts me, and the lessons survive,
And the work of the Songbirds must continue to thrive.