None can say where it is found
We know little but ’tis known

Beyond mountain, beyond valley
Beyond seven, beyond eight

And still sadder and still madder
Over weary, over bitter

Over hawthorn, over thornbush
Over drought and over hindrance

Over dread and over doubt
Beyond nine and beyond ten

There below beneath the earth
Over yonder beneath the sky

And still deeper and still fiercer
Beyond silence, beyond nightfall

Where the roosters do not crow
And the horn’s voice is unknown

And still sadder and still madder
Beyond mind and beyond God

For there is a dark blue river
It is broad and it is deep

It is broad one hundred years
A thousand summers is its depth

And its length not to be thought
Murk and darkness unrelenting

For there is a dark blue river

For there is a dark blue river
And that river we must cross

Translated by Wayles Browne – © 2007 Wayles Browne

The preceding text is copyright of the author and/or translator and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.