Hymn for the Deep

Here I stand until I die
Upon the waves beneath the sky
Rocked by waves and held by foam
The sea is my eternal home
The gods below in dark and deep
Our fragile souls in safety keep
Gods of deep and dark below,
Calm seas, fair winds on us bestow

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The Hymn is a long-form, sung prayer to the Gods Below. It is an emotional expression of love, devotion, and thanks to the Gods. The words are a series of rhyming couplets, consistent throughout Makeya. People might say or sing a single couplet as a short prayer in their daily lives, but the full Hymn is usually sung communally. The Hymn is traditionally sung in Makeyani, but it has been translated into Calan and Naleedic.
Typically the Hymn is led by a Yemar, but if one is not present, whoever knows the Hymn best may lead. The Hymn sounds different nearly every time it is sung, because the melody varies from island to island (though most people are familiar with the popular melodies). The group will follow the leader’s choice in melody. When Yemari sing together, the Hymn becomes an elaborate, polyphonic song with descants and counterpoint. When there is only a single Yemar, or another leading, the Hymn can be as simple as a single person singing while others hum along.