John Ronald Ruel Tolkien. Selected verses
0. John Ronald Ruel Tolkien. Selected verses

1. Where now the horse and the rider?

Where is the helm and the hauberk,
                       and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring,
                        and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest
                        and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain,
                        like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West
                        behind the hills into shadow.
Who shall gather the smoke
                        of the dead wood burning,
Or behold the flowing years
                        from the Sea returning?

2. x x x

In the willow-meads of Tasarinan I walked in the Spring.
Ah! The sight and the smell of the Spring in Nan-Tasarion!
And I say it was good.
I wndered in Summer in the elm-woods of Ossiriand.
Ah! The light and the music in the Summer by the
                Seven Rivers of Ossir!
And I thought that was best.
To the beeches of Neldoreth I came in the Autumn.
Ah! the gold and the red and the sighing of leaves
                in the Autumn in Taur-na-Neldor!
It was more than my desire.
To the pine-trees upon the highlands of Dorthonion
                I climbed in the Winter.
Ah! the wind and the whiteness and the black branches
                of Winter Upon Orod-na-Thon!
My voice went up and sang in the sky.
And now all those lands lie under the wave,
And I walk in Ambarona, in Tauremorna, in Aldalome,
In my own land, in the country of Fangorn,
Where the roots are long,
And years lie thicker than the leaves
In Tauremornalome.

3. x x x

Where now are the Dunedain, Elessar,Elessar?
Why do thy kinsfolk wander afar?
Near is the hour when the Lost should come forth,
And the Grey Company ride from the North.
But dark is the path appointed for thee:
The Dead watch the road that leads to the Sea.

4. x x x

Legolas Greenleaf long under tree
In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea!
If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,
Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.

5. x x x

Arise now, arise, Riders of Theoden!
Dire Deeds awake, dark is it eastward.
Let horse be bridled, horn be sounded!
        Forth Eorlingas!

6. x x x

Ere iron was found or tree was hewn,
When young was mountain under moon;
Ere ring was made, or wrought was woe,
It walked the forests long ago.

7. x x x

Tall ships and tall kings,
        Three times three,
What brought they from the foundered land
        Over the flouing sea?
Seven stars and seven stones
        And one white tree.

Last-modified: Mon, 08 Dec 1997 08:01:02 GMT