Interpreting the Rising Poem

[Aeliott]

All but the last 2 lines about the spear and blade seem to be general metaphorical tomfoolery for the cycle / balance of light and darkness. Given that the Warriors of Darkness are now coming to the foreground, I'd wager it's a reference to them. There's a clear duality. Pillars of life (WoL), pillars of strife (WoD), despair vs prayer etc. And this is somehow connected to thy (our) crystal of light. Hm... also

Thy (your) adamant spear bores steeps entire (pierces stone)
thy (your) argent blade cleaves oceans deep

We have...great power. That can pierce hard things :P

I find the French version a bit more easy to speculate on than the other vague ones.
"the souls unchained send their laments." - the Warriors of Darkness? Ascians?
"the breath of prayer arrives in the holy land." - we'll be travelling to a land considered holy? The end of the Dragonsong war?

There's a lot of spiral imagery, but the English version especially is littered with aquatic association words. Whorl, dross, eddy, flux, flow, gyre, oceans.
Wasn't the first expansion a toss-up between sea and sky (the sky being Heavensward)? Maybe it's a very vague nod to the next expansion somehow, assuming there will still be a water theme. Then again, it's _only_ the English version which has this, the others have no such theme.

Just tossing ideas at the wall :P

[Anonymoose]

the English version especially is littered with aquatic association words. Whorl, dross, eddy, flux, flow, gyre, oceans.
Wasn't the first expansion a toss-up between sea and sky (the sky being Heavensward)? Maybe it's a very vague nod to the next expansion somehow, assuming there will still be a water theme. Then again, it's _only_ the English version which has this, the others have no such theme.

I had this same thought. English is, for all its clusterf[KUPO]kery, a very flowery language with an extensive selection of synonyms, each have their own connotations. None of the words chosen for English must be related to water, but often are used in relation to water.

Ever since that interview where it was said, "We had a debate - flying or swimming." I've been joking that since we have so much warning for swimming, there's ample time to include Blitzball. Now, the lead-up to 4.0 obviously wants us to think Gyr Abania is coming, and it likely is. But 3.0 had both Dravania and the Floating Continent; who's to say 4.0 won't have Gyr Abania and oceanic content? There are a few islands we know about (and many we possibly don't!). Thavnair, for starters. And what's with all these Final Fantasy X homages at Fan Fest? All things are coming up roses for that running joke, imho.

TL;DR
WE'RE GOING TO BUILD A BLITZBALL SPHERE, AND THAVNAIR IS GOING TO PAY FOR IT.

[Ceasaria]

Ever since that interview where it was said, "We had a debate - flying or swimming." I've been joking that since we have so much warning for swimming, there's ample time to include Blitzball. Now, the lead-up to 4.0 obviously wants us to think Gyr Abania is coming, and it likely is. But 3.0 had both Dravania and the Floating Continent; who's to say 4.0 won't have Gyr Abania and oceanic content? There are a few islands we know about (and many we possibly don't!). Thavnair, for starters. And what's with all these Final Fantasy X homages at Fan Fest? All things are coming up roses for that running joke, imho.

TL;DR
WE'RE GOING TO BUILD A BLITZBALL SPHERE, AND THAVNAIR IS GOING TO PAY FOR IT.

For the french version : "Au fin fond du cercle de la volonté", it should be "In the depth of the circle of volition"

Another hint about the water theme, is in one of the interview of Koji, he said that Bismarck could be seen in the ocean too...

----------

How did stories of Bismarck appear in both Vanu Vanu and Sea Wolf mythology? How old is this story?

KF: It’s very old. It goes back to what I was saying with Phoenix, there’s one seed and it spreads and there are some similarities but in some places it’s different. Some places he’s in the sky, some places he’s in the sea. He might show up again soon, someplace. Where it’s beautiful. And hand drawn. I’m not gonna say anything else. <pauses for a moment> They’re gonna kill me for that.

[Anonymoose]

For the french version : "Au fin fond du cercle de la volonté", it should be "In the depth of the circle of volition"

Thanks! I didn't want to stray too far from the "literal" interpretation without being sure.

[Moonbird]

The German version also has clear connotations with water. While the translation of Grund as foundation is correct, I should mention that the word is most commonly used to talk about the bottom of a body of water (at least in my experience). Tosend und schäumend also have strong connections to water (to be precise: waterfalls). This points towards Lake Silvertear. If I recall correctly, it was said that we would find out more about them before the next expansion. Also, the he likely talks about the crystal(s of light? whatever crystal the poem was talking about earlier) and not about Zodiark. I am assuming this because no other version makes any sort of reference towards him. If anyone wonders why a "he" is mentioned: the german word for crystal is a masculine noun. Although this ambiguity could be intentional and imply that the crystals of light are pieces of Zodiark, I don't think that is likely (or true).

[MPNZ]

There's a lot of spiral imagery, but the English version especially is littered with aquatic association words. Whorl, dross, eddy, flux, flow, gyre, oceans.
Wasn't the first expansion a toss-up between sea and sky (the sky being Heavensward)? Maybe it's a very vague nod to the next expansion somehow, assuming there will still be a water theme. Then again, it's _only_ the English version which has this, the others have no such theme.

Just tossing ideas at the wall :P

So, they're going to introduce Blitzball and swimming areas