Said the Priest to the Elder

[metalfan91]

"You must go! You don't belong here anymore!
You will flee to the lands of the West.
You must become the un-inhabitants,
For our destiny to manifest.
This world was granted to us by powers up high,
By steel and by plague, you shall abide!"

Your beasts and machines bring terror to us;
Your iron fist concealed by velvet glove.
Our lands now bear the names of your oft-gloried ones:
Conquerors who've slain our daughters and sons.
Please leave, go away! Here's no glory for us.
Stay your hand, brothers, this can still be undone.

"Fools! Savages! You haven't the sense
to claim your home on our continents.
We've come to civilize and feed the holy flame,
This wild, ancient, fertile place,
All for us to tame."

---

Obviously your title and reference to the holy flame indicates a religious context, but other factor point to environment, history and conquered people. Could you elaborate please? I feel disjointed by line breaks when reading, although there are some good lines, I feel a lot are forced and have trouble relating them. I do sense the stretch for form. Best, Loretta

Yes, there is religious context; environmental, societal, etc. The overarching context is the relationship between conquerors and the conquered. I took examples through history, specifically the conquest of Mexico, which was especially devastating. I also made a reference to the Manifest Destiny 'doctrine' of North America. Following that, it could allude also to the slaves shipped from West Africa to the West Indies (Caribbeans, Cuba, Haiti) and the Americas by European and African warlords. (In short, I took a few history classes this semester). However, I intended this to feel vaguely of a fantasy piece as well and leave unclear as to which instance of colonization I allude to. I felt it better to leave it vague, yet concise rather than specific and overwrought. Can you say which line(s) feel forced?

Also, It would probably help to that say these are lyrics to a song I've been composing. In it, I use clean vocals (not-growled) for the priest and growled vocals for the elder. This is to emphasize the perceived distinctions between "savage" and "civilized."

Thanks for reading me.