Lyrics
I was the light on the shores of Tir Tairngire
The swan-white face the poets carved in dream
Among the Tuatha, crowned in gold the dawn had given me
And the song of my birds was the balm of kings
But my eyes found the fire in the mortal hall of Munster
A hunter's gaze that broke the endless night—
Ciabhán, whose hands knew the weight of the bow and the sweetness of touch
In his voice I heard a calling stronger than tide
I forsook the spires of the Otherworld
Crossing the silver sea without the blessing of my kin
For love that could not live in halves—
No crown, no spell could bind my will
In Glandore's harbor we swore our bonds
He spoke my name like prayer at dusk
But from the west rode music strange and slow
A harp's lament beneath a moon of rust
O wave of destiny, O breaker of vows
Your arms reached up from the deep and the dark
I had danced upon earth, I had kissed the mortal flame
But the tide remembers what the heart will not tame
O wave of Glandore, O treacherous song
You took my breath where my dreams belong
And the shore is gilded with the white of my shroud
As the sea still sings my name aloud
They say Manannán's bard wove the notes
To lull my guard and drag me home
Or was it envy from a queen unseen
Thirsting for my lover's oath?
Sleep fell like silk upon my eyes
The world drowned in a shifting hue
One heartbeat, no more—and the call became a roar
Salt thunder came to break us two
Ciabhán cried my name into the wind
But the foam was the only answer he found
The harbor drank the promise whole
And the wave became my crown
I am the tide in the folklore of Cork
The mistress of a wave that knows no rest
And though my kiss marks Munster's coast
His memory's carved in the ocean's breast
O wave of destiny, O breaker of vows
Your arms reached up from the deep and the dark
I had danced upon earth, I had kissed the mortal flame
But the tide remembers what the heart will not tame
Hear me, lovers who walk the line
Between your world and the one beyond—
The border is a blade, the blade will cut
Though the hand that wields it be fair as dawn
Cross with care, cross with truth
Or the sea will keep what the sun gives you
For beauty calls, but the call is deep
And the wave can kiss—and the wave can keep, and the wave can keep
Still in moonlight I wander shorelines
Guarding Munster with my unseen eyes
Not enemy, nor wholly friend—
But a truth on which all fate relies
Ciabhán roams still in mortal halls
His fireside tales bind me to his earth
And every child who hears my name
Inherits warning with its worth
O wave of destiny, O breaker of vows
Your arms reached up from the deep and the dark
I had danced upon earth, I had kissed the mortal flame
But the tide remembers what the heart will not tame
O wave of Glandore, O treacherous song
You took my breath where my dreams belong
And the shore is gilded with the white of my shroud
As the sea still sings my name aloud, my name aloud