Beggar

[Verse 1]
She's fast asleep at Woden's feet
Whilst alms I seek from thronging fairfolk
As a whelp fast to the teat
She smote me then
We've ever since been shadows
Two beasts of one old soul

[Verse 2]
If you rely on the kindness of strangers
It helps to have a hound for a handmaid
Not only for the superior nose
Or companionship
Often people stop to talk with me
Having never seen before such a very beautiful snow-coloured collie

[Verse 3]
Working the fell - a most powerful eye
Part of the grass, fast as a lightning
Before the children were grown
They'd ride her like a pony
Through the nodding banners yesterday
She went in chase of a ship's rat
At my wit's end I finally located her
Under a whining bush, my poor old lady, seized by a fit

[Verse 4]
When the raiders came in their flaming carriages
She went running to her family
While I listened on, cowering behind a pile of logs
There's no denying it

I sold my shoes so I could buy a chicken
A penance and a treat on her final day

Now she is gone I carry her down to the sea
And scream to the sinking stars
"Can you ever forgive me?"