We left that river in our wake, its current carrying us far
To sea, and when land dropped away, continued toward the one-winged star
Who flies with one wing in the sky and the other it is said
Fluttering in the dream land world to carry spirits of the dead
To the far dark frozen north country to forever sleep
Where whatever is immortal in them they may forever keep
We sailed further every day with cold anticipation
Always moving closer to that one winged constellation
And it brought a great unease in us for every sailor knows
That to the land of eternal sleep only the sleeper goes
Soon we felt the chilling air of the northern waters rise
From deep below the churning waves, at night we heard the wind born cries
Of lost souls who had fallen there, those who struggle against fate
And so are dropped into the sea, because they fight and will not wait
To sleep in cold untortured death in the sleeping frozen north
Where all life has been forbidden, in that direction we sailed forth
Each day the wizard raised his staff to measure off the sun
And whispered with the captain of the day's course we would run
A western wind rose up and drove us harder abeam each day
We reefed our sails and lashed the helm and continued on our way
The sea rose up before us and from sea to sky we rolled
Sure we would reach the bottom before our story was yet told
The sun sank low and dim and cast an eerie dismal light
Until it neither rose nor set but stayed up all the night
We knew then that the days were frozen and the eternal deep
Had come nigh upon us and we feared to fall asleep
But it was not the dim lit sun that seemed to paralyze
Me in wakeful slumber but the sun that lit her eyes
I thought about her constantly but dared not seek her out
Where she lay in chains below as the ship was tossed about
Then as the sun turned uselessly we heard the lookout call
And dead ahead there rose a white and shining icy wall
As we approached the wind dropped down and we turned to the east
And sailed along the cliffs to where they became broken and creased
We drew in close and anchored off a shallow icy shore
We launched the dories and soon stood on solid ground once more
We were led through a crevasse up to an ancient stairway
Then we climbed the stairs through hand hewn caverns where they lay
At the top the stairway opened on a valley floor
And there before us stood a white ice tomb without a door
Though it was not so large or even grand in form or line
It was indeed a wonder by its intricate design
With an inscription all around the tale of too short life was told
And inside that doorless wonder even young was old
Facing to the stairs was a human form with arms outstretched
It was a fearful thing to see it welcome all both proud and wretched
Throughout the walls and pillars to the balcony and rail
Every living thing was carved in ice in great detail
Every plant and animal, tree and grass and worm
As real as if they only rested in their simple form
It made us wonder looking at those creatures so serene
If they lived and we were dead in this time frozen scene
But our leaders gave us little time to wonder here
We chopped down deep into the ice to break the ice tomb clear
We brought up ropes and winches from the ship far down below
Then we lowered that whole building down the cliffs of ice so slow
I could not tell if weeks had passed or hours or a year
Inches at a time we lowered that frozen garden down the sheer
Wall that bordered the land of the dead to keep the living away
We lowered it straight into the hold and set our sails that same day
A deep relief rose in me as we drifted from that shore
As if I'd been dead for a time and came to life once more
And rising in my mind again the silent priestess came
She still lived in my dreams and all day long she called my name
And as I thought about her I resolved to form a plan
I'd see her soon again and take my fate in my own hand
