Handful of Ashes
Elegy of Ruins: Echoes of Loss and Homeland
Lyrics
Alas, you were like a grand and magnificent mansion
Describing someone as a majestic and impressive structure or entity.
And I, from the white summit of your roof
The speaker metaphorically observes from a high point of this impressive entity.
In the light of the star-studded night
Under the starry sky, the speaker perceives the surroundings.
Listened to the fearsome flow of the euphrates below
Heard the relentless and powerful flow of the Euphrates river below.
I heard with tears, with tears
The speaker heard about the destruction with great sadness.
That on a day of horror massacre and blood
Reference to a tragic event involving violence and bloodshed.
Your broad walls were shattered stone by stone
Describing the complete destruction of the once-majestic walls.
And thrown on the gardena around you
The debris scattered in the area surrounding the mansion.
Did the blue room also turn to ashes
Questioning whether a specific room in the mansion also turned to ashes.
Where, within it's walls and carpets
Describing the room where the speaker had joyful experiences and grew up.
My happy childhood rejoiced, my life grew
Highlighting the significance of this room in shaping the speaker's life.
And my soul took flight?
Expressing the impact of the destruction on the speaker's soul and memories.
My fathers' home!
An emotional reference to the speaker's ancestral home.
Be assured that when I die
Expressing the strong connection and commitment to the ancestral home even after death.
My soul will come to you as an exiled turtledove
Desiring to reunite spiritually with the destroyed home, symbolized by a turtledove.
To sing in tears its song of sorrow over your black ruins
Intending to mourn and express sorrow over the ruins.
But tell me, who will bring to me a handful
Questioning who will bring a symbolic remnant of the destroyed home.
Of your sacred ashes the day I die, to put in my grave
Asking for a portion of the home's ashes to be placed in the speaker's grave.
And mix with my ashes, a singer of the homeland?
Expressing a desire to merge the ashes of the home with the speaker's own.
A handful of ashes with my own, ancestral home
Stressing the importance of having a part of the ancestral home in the speaker's final resting place.
Who will bring a handful of ashes from your ashes?
Rhetorically questioning who will bring these ashes, emphasizing their significance.
Of your memories, your suffering and your past
Asking for a portion of the home's memories and history to be added to the speaker's essence.
A handful of ashes to scatter over my heart
Desiring to incorporate the essence of the destroyed home into the speaker's heart.
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