New Years Poem 2017

[Anonymoose]

OP should be about finished, I think? FR is fixed, I think? (Thanks, Nalfein!) JP transcription is in (Thanks, Marko!), and I think the biggest hint is there. See the old kanji for "crimson" and "azure"? Those are indeed the same glyphs used for Crimson Liberators and Azure Heavens of Ishgard, the JP titles of 4.0 and 3.0, respectively.

So, Ala Mhigo is a powderkeg; we knew that. And if that keg don't blow, then there's no 4.0. (I made that up.)
It seems to be saying that the conflagration in Gyr Abania will drag Ishgard (and thus the Eorzean Alliance) into the fray.

It could also be a coincidental use of azure, of course. This expansion does include swimming and diving. But let's focus on Occam's Razor and wait for the third Fan Festival's reveals before we put that over Ishgard.

[Enur]

Looking at Zenos, he does have a red/black colour-scheme.



Ilberd, who wanted to retake ala mhigo from Zenos wore a uniform with a Blue/white colourscheme




Ala Mhigo, which most likely is where the showdown twixt the two will happen is purple...



Am i going crazy again? I usually do when im on the lore forums. Red/blue Black/white...

I am crazy.. but it makes perfect sense...

[Belhi]

Its not just the colors. We have the east and west dynamic too. Perhaps it has something to do with Azys Lla, or maybe Shiva and Thordan. The Ishgardians are the first to show that more than just the beast tribes can summon primals.

[Rocl]

"Azure lost"? You know who loves blue-- Aymeric de Borel! AYMERIC CONFIRMED TO DIE IN 4.0
Azure? Like the dragoon? Lost? Estinien is missing? FOREVER?

Jokes aside, it does seem pretty pat. East, land of the rising sun, new beginnings, red; Ala Mhigo's Crimson Liberation in the east etc.
West, land of the setting sun, a chapter ending, blue; Ishgard's Knight of the Blue Sky are gone--the focus is shifting eastward etc.

I am curious about the potential German discrepancy though??

I'm surprised no one's brought up that guy with all the fire imagery...

[DamianFatale]

"Azure lost"? You know who loves blue-- Aymeric de Borel! AYMERIC CONFIRMED TO DIE IN 4.0
Azure? Like the dragoon? Lost? Estinien is missing? FOREVER?

Jokes aside, it does seem pretty pat. East, land of the rising sun, new beginnings, red; Ala Mhigo's Crimson Liberation in the east etc.
West, land of the setting sun, a chapter ending, blue; Ishgard's Knight of the Blue Sky are gone--the focus is shifting eastward etc.

I am curious about the potential German discrepancy though??

I'm surprised no one's brought up that guy with all the fire imagery...

Aymeric dying in 4.0? Blasphemy. Do not take him like you took our Haurchy.

[Anonymoose]

I am curious about the potential German discrepancy though??

Yeah, the machine translation had a hell of a time choosing whether Bis leuchtendes Azur es niederringt was until Azure subdues it or until Azure it subdues, depending on where I broke the lines. I went with the latter, since it matches the other poems, but if someone who, like, you know, actually speaks German says otherwise, they're probably right.

[Velynea]

Yeah, the machine translation had a hell of a time choosing whether Bis leuchtendes Azur es niederringt was until Azure subdues it or until Azure it subdues, depending on where I broke the lines. I went with the latter, since it matches the other poems, but if someone who, like, you know, actually speaks German says otherwise, they're probably right.

Not a native speaker here by any means, but had the privilige to be taught German in school when I was younger (and it helps it skirts past my native tongue, Dutch). This is the best translation I could do for you. But by no means take this as granted, as I might be off completely. Sadly enough German is a lot of interpretation, and especially in a poem, it makes little sense. But I hope this helps somewhat. I struggled very much with the last two sentences I admit, and I'm pretty sure I botched them massively. German poems and their interpretation/translation is not my jam! In any case...

When the sun rises

It thunders scarlet red and flames ignite.

But bright Azure struggle trough

Azure is on the end of the horizon/Azure will appear ultimately when the sun rises.


Now, my tinfoil hat theory. The Light sect of the Fist of Rhalgr in German is referred to as the Sun sect (Sonnensekte). The person who is the most prominent known Light Sect Monk? Widargelt! So maybe they are hinting at him having a more prominent role come Stormblood? It would make sense considering his heritage. Also the thunder might hint as him once more due to well, Fist of Rhalgr, Rhalgr, lightning and all that! Might just be a wording for the Ala Mhigans, would make sense as well. Maybe it is Ishgard who decides to aid the Ala Mhigans first, even if their story focus is over with Heavensward, making the rest of the Alliance follow? Yes, tinfoil hat much. But who knows!

In any case, yes it's very far fetched but who knows.

[Rocl]

I hadn't actually noticed before but lightning imagery does abound! A light/spark/flash becoming fire-- a squall-- etc

Nice catch! Though it could be a very generic reference to Rhalgr, yea

[Powe]

It's a obvious, the squall gear will be dyeable which means red Squall role players

[Atoli]

Yeah, the machine translation had a hell of a time choosing whether Bis leuchtendes Azur es niederringt was until Azure subdues it or until Azure it subdues, depending on where I broke the lines. I went with the latter, since it matches the other poems, but if someone who, like, you know, actually speaks German says otherwise, they're probably right.

As a German native speaker I can say for sure it is "until Azure subdues it (the Scarlet)" and not the other way round, but I wouldn't consider the difference too important, because all 3 other languages share a similar theme so it's entirely possible the German translators were just a bit more liberal with their translation.
I remember Thordan's last words being a big topic here on the lore forum before, and I was quite confused because they were really normal in German while the other languages had him questioning if the WoL was still human or something like that? So while the German translation is usually very close to the Japanese text, there are sometimes big differences in random places.

As for Velynea's translation: "Blitz" is not thunder. It's just the German word for a bright light that suddenly flashes, basically anything from the light when you snap a picture of someone, to the lightning outside, or just the way you'd describe someone suddenly turning on an artificial light. I know lightning is the element of Rhalgr, but that sentence is literally about a flame igniting, a sudden bright light, and "aufblitzen" is just the normal German word for that. So "flash" which Moose-sensei used was very fitting
It of course could still possibly hint towards lighting, as it shares the spark/flash/light imagery with the other languages.
The first and last line are only about the locations (beginning and end of the sun's drift) so...Anonymoose' translation software was more accurate. Eh whatever. I'll just post the corrected version here xD

Where the sun's drift begins
Scarlet flashes and turns into a blazing flame
Until the shining Azure subdues it
Azure from the end of the sun's drift.

I read somewhere that people speculate the Azure means Bluemage. Have these poems ever been about job announcements? I think I only remember them being about the story direction. So for now, I'll stick to my Azure = Ishgard belief, because of all the links they have to that color and word. The WoL = Azure theory is quite interesting too. After all, we ARE obviously going to be swept up in the whole mess. That said, it feels a little bit reaching, considering we have several light crystals, not just the blue one, and everyone's eather is whiteish-blue.