1. Were you not with the living
One morn when glory called us

2. On, then on! Till the sweat poured
Down. So we leapt and encountered

3. Those who guarded the waterskin.
We fought them, we brought them low.

4. Ask not about the cup we shared
Where once we met and drank deep.

5. We reveled, till matters shifted
And weeping replaced our cheer.

6. Wisdom kept us apart awhile;
Need brought us together again.

7. But for the tenderness of wombs
We had severed all ties, lost hope.

8. When kinship's claims grow too loud
We ignore them and persevere,

9. Cousins, have patience awhile:
Our houses will drift apart.

10. Dread will prowl between our homes,
When war drums sound in the valley.

11. Kinship may yet call us back
If we turn and oppose each other.

12. You opposed us and we opposed you.
No weakling faced us, no craven.

13. Each lad of ours dreams of the day
He will redeem his vow, or pay

14. What he owes, with keen-edged steel.
Sleep cannot dull the warrior's ears,

15. The softness of a girl's skin.
When the journey rubs hands raw,

16. These hands shine with jeweled rings.
Stand still. Let me tell you how I

17. Endure your absence patiently.
Ask not about the temper of

18. My sword, but the courage it serves.
Our feet race to glory and fame.

19. Hear the growls of lions in our thickets.
When wrong would wrest our honor,

20. We pay any price to keep it.
When truth contests our wealth,

21. We toss that wealth away.
When the noble show generosity,

22. We give more, do not stint.
The rash think we conspire

23. To surpass them in charity.
We who ruled the bread of life

24. Grew poor, and enriched others.
Grieving, we obeyed fate,

25. Offended, then appeased it.
When bounty will not bend

26. To our wrath or diplomacy,
We gather swiftly, reconnect,

27. Aid each other, draw together.
When death's envoy calls us home,

28. We come running to his summons.
What use to escape that day

29. Of reckoning, seek safety?
We did not know we raced

30. Toward the final goal.