Song of the Hunter / Song of the Hunted
Traditional
Hark! Thou cannot hear me,
Nor witness me with thine eyes.
Thou feel my presence, watching,
Assuring thee with lies.
How doth thee come to be here,
Lone and astray this night?
Thy arms seem not present,
And thy lack a warrior's might.
I have devoured a village already tonight,
A great variety of meals I did cull,
The children were among the sweetest,
And my belly is swollen and full.
Yet I see thee, wandering alone,
And my thoughts be crooked and black.
For there is always room in mine stomach
For but another superfluous snack.
Thy frightened eyes do wander,
Held in darkness and tree,
Thy breathing would to you lead me,
Even if mine own eyes did not see.
Thy fear is greatly apparent,
And though I may sound malicious,
Each tremble thy make and each bead of sweat
Only makes thee more and more delicious.
Thy terror doth reach its peak now,
And thy fright in need of release.
I shall grant thee the escape thy seeketh,
For thy life will now cease.
Hark! I cannot hear thee,
Nor witness thee with mine eyes.
Though I feel thy presence, watching,
And comfort myself with lies.
Thy teeth and thy fang, they frighten me so
And thy figure a pure shade of black.
Thou art mocking my lack of defense,
and the strength I clearly do lack.
Thou devoured my village already tonight,
Ate my family and took away my home.
Lone and astray, I fled into these woods
Unaware this is where thy doth roam.
Shapes in the darkness and the dripping of blood,
And nowhere a sign of the moon.
No light shines to guide me, but I know thou art there
And planning on devouring me soon.
No phantom tale or eerie event
Has ever given me such fear,
No time before or ever again,
Shall be more frightening than here.
Thy games are cruel, savage beast,
For I know thou await to attack.
Each moment thou laughs, wondering if
Thou shall kill from front or from back.
My terror doth reach its peak now,
Though I shall fight when thy arise.
Because I would rather to die not in horrible truth,
But rather in the rays of hopeful lies.
Ozpin's Notes
These two poems, originally unnamed but having received titles later in history, have been around since before the foundation of the four Kingdoms. Many speculate, as do I, that they were an early attempt at understanding the Grimm, and their relationship with the people of Remnant. Of course, Grimm back then were much the same as they are today, but back then little was still known about the reason behind their savagery. These poems, I believe, were written and told with the intent of personifying and humanizing Grimm, boiling down their feral, violent nature to a more human concept, in this case cruelty and wickedness. Though they were wrong about Grimm being intelligent or sentient enough to treat their hunting like a game like the "hunter" in the poem, they were correct in portraying a Grimm's bloodlust and vile nature. Perhaps that is why these poems have continued to be popular even to modern day. These poems have been adapted and referenced hundreds of times, most commonly performed in the form of songs. Every artist who decides to sing these poems as songs has their own interpretation on the melody and tone, from slow soothing ballads to fast-paced rock tunes. But regardless of how they are performed, they are very rarely, almost never, seen without the other. If someone is transcribing, adapting, or performing one, the other will always be included or not far behind. Together, they tell both sides of a terrifying story.