In an age yet come an age long past
A crowd gathered 'round with eyes all cast
To a man on a stage in a patchwork cloak
With hands like lightning, fire, and smoke
He made fly leather, flame and steel
And plucked at a harp with a heavenly feel
And sang with a voice so moving and strong
That all passers by were entranced In his song
Hold high your drinks to the king of the bards
Roll all your dice and lay down your cards
Drum with your fists on the tables and bars
Sing out your heart as you gaze to the stars
He knuckled his mustaches and produced a black wood flute
And from the gilded silver sprouted reels jigs and tunes
The tavern floor was shaking from the dancing and the booze
And not a man or woman there could ever have refused
Now the gleeman held the throng in the palm of his hand
As he spun tales and songs of old heroes and lands
But any can have secrets and not all is what it seems
And the evening was cut short by a demon from a dream
A pale grey thing with an eyeless gaze
Drew from hanging robes a long black blade
He slithered through the crowd yet before he reached the stage
A pair of knives flew into empty sockets on his face
Hold high your drinks to the king of the bards
Roll all your dice and lay down your cards
Drum with your fists on the tables and bars
Sing out your heart as you gaze to the stars