The Myling

The Myling is a character from Slavic folklore, and much like the Drekavac, is thought to be the soul of an unbaptized and abandoned or murdered child. Most tales refer to these creatures as horrifying things that force men to carry them to graveyards (an impossible feat, since they grow heavier until the carrier is embedded in the ground), or simply haunt those that killed or abandoned them. I prefer to look at these spirits as pitiful. Lonely children, left to die, left to the mercy of the dark. You know? It's upsetting.

Imagine this piece as a dirge, four-part harmony, minor, accompanied by sustained, blurry piano and horn, trumpet, and trombone all in their lowest, muddiest registers.

Song of the Drekavac

Violets are blue
Roses are red
Remember me
When I am dead, dead, dead

When I was young
I breathed Heaven
But they left me, left me in Hell

I'll keep on growing growing growing
But I'll never grow up!
I'll never be a man!

Hear me weep,
Hear my cry!
I am an owl, a dog, a wisp of smoke
I am the spirit of a wandering legend

I know nothing, but dream of everything
They don't tell you what comes after death
I am a child and like a child
I fear the things in the dark
(There is something moving in the dark)