I roll and crash with mighty sound,
Striking earth and shaking ground.
My power warns all who hear,
What am I that brings fear near?
I roll and crash with mighty sound,
Striking earth and shaking ground.
My power warns all who hear,
What am I that brings fear near?
What walks on 4 legs in the morning
2 legs in the afternoon
and 3 legs in the evening?
What always runs but never walks.
Often murmurs, never talks.
Has a bed but never sleeps.
An open mouth that never eats?
I am broken when spoken, yet stronger when kept.
I die in the light, but live where you've wept.
My light casts no shade
And is nightly displayed.
The foolish man wastes me,
The average man spends me,
And wise man invests me,
Yet all men succumb to me.
I shine and guide in darkest night,
Flames within bring gentle light.
Carried by adventurers with care,
What am I that burns the air?
Voiceless it cries,
wingless it flutters,
toothless bites,
and mouthless mutters.
Tall I am young,
Short I am old,
While with life I glow,
Wind is my foe.
Born black as night,
Next red with heat,
Then cold and white,
My life's complete.
I speak without a mouth, hear without ears,
I answer all without fear.
Line up my friends, I'll beat them all
I batter each upon its head
If I strike true, I build up walls
If not, my claw will raise the dead
Cut me once, I do not bleed
I've crooked teeth but no mouth to feed
I can be chained yet set you free
Knowing all that, what can I be?
In the form of fork or sheet,
I hit the ground.
And if you wait a heartbeat,
You can hear my roaring sound.
If you drop me, I'm sure to crack.
Give me a smile, and I'll always smile back.
Though I'm tender,
I'm not to be eaten.
Though fresh mint,
Nor your breath to sweeten.
Passed from father to son,
And shared between brothers.
Its importance is unquestioned,
Though it is used more by others.
When someone's solved my name, I know defeat,
Until that moment, though, I have them beat.
Each morning, I appear to lie at your feet;
all day, I follow no matter how fast you run,
yet I nearly perish in the midday sun.
The instant my name is spoken
I am broken.
I am the one eye no lid covers.
The helmsman trusts me further than any oracle.
Each evening I drown in the western sea.
When you mourn, I mourn along
A watchful eye guards my Vault
Laughter or pain, I join in throngs
Not of the sea, but still drops of salt
We plunder every flower and leave each unharmed.
We raise a city of six-sided rooms
and pay tribute in gold that needs no forge.
I twist the letters, hide the word,
Only the clever may be heard.
Spies and rogues rely on me,
What am I in secrecy?
Two brothers were born of Night.
One lends what the other keeps.
I rehearse your death nightly;
my brother comes once.
A thousand soldiers guard this golden hoard,
Each with a single sword;
There's just one door, so theft is quite a feat,
But the reward is sweet.
I am carried by all, yet held by none.
Lose me once, and I am gone.
For many it is daily fare,
This drink that no man can prepare.
I have a blade that has never drawn blood
Thirty of my brothers keep time with me
I wound the sea, and the sea forgets the wound.
Silver, brass, bronze, gold.
Given, bought, stolen, sold.
Symbols of wealth, power, or love.
Forged like a sword, fits like a glove.
Empty, I am a rag.
Filled, I carry a hundred men faster than a horse.
I starve when the air holds still.
The sea makes me,
the sun frees me,
the rock hoards me.
I am whiter than marble.
No feast is worth attending without me.