Ithilien & Window on the West
Dec. 20th, 2009 01:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
written_leavesSo near to darkness, green life holds sway
I've always had a love for plants and for simple gardening, perhaps that is part of why Ithilien remains one of my favorite places in M-e, the idea of a garden overgrown, the life just beneath the neglect. The first poem is a gentler verse for the bit of broth Sam made there, before meeting Faramir - the second is for the window beneath the waterfall of Henneth Annun and the contrast of its color and light with the darkness the men were dwelling in behind it.
Ithilien
A brace of coney, a bit of broth,
The sweet herbs growing all around.
If we only had taters, oh what a feast!
What a garden this must have been.
A soft bed of fern, gently rustling trees,
Pungent bay and winter fruit,
Flowers wild in abandoned grace,
So near to darkness, green life holds sway.
Once more, Ithilien
Beside the shadows you blossom,
Once more, Ithilien
Your life struggles through.
Fountains and waterfalls trickling still,
Clear water to wash in, and to drink.
Rest and food and light and scent -
Weary eyes can finally close.
Under your boughs they peacefully sleep.
They have come to you, and will come again.
These travelers small with a burden great,
By their deeds Ages will begin and end.
Once more, Ithilien
A gardener's hands are among you.
Once more, Ithilien,
You will awaken and bloom.
-
Window on the West
“They stood on a wet floor of polished stone, the door-step, as it were, of a rough-hewn gate of rock opening dark behind them. But in front, a thin veil of water was hung…. It faced westward. The level shafts of the setting sun behind beat upon it, and the red light was broken into many flickering beams of ever-changing colour….” -TTT
By crystal curtain and rose-lit mist we see this
Brief tapestry of jewels, streams of light they weave;
A Glory framed with darkness,
Hidden wonder of the realm;
Our souls suffuse with light, and our hearts overwhelm,
With a longing for a home of beauty and of peace,
Deep memories of some heart’s desire, a cry that’s never ceased,
For another time and place, where our suffering need not be.
But it is gone, gone…
With verdant grasses blooming and whispering bright trees,
Blessed Isle of Númenor,
Now lost beneath the sea.
The vibrant colors shine, and gleaming shift upon the floor,
A misty veil darkens the mossy stones beside the door.
The darkness will enclose us,
As we fade away from light,
As unto the darkness we must give our hope and sight.
We slowly turn to enter, the waiting Dark is vast,
But first we will stand to watch this Glory pass:
Bittersweet and lovely. Our aching hearts are sore,
The light is gone, gone…
How the Twilight veil of mourning mists the stony floor,
Lying wet and darkened
With the tears of Númenor.
-
I've always had a love for plants and for simple gardening, perhaps that is part of why Ithilien remains one of my favorite places in M-e, the idea of a garden overgrown, the life just beneath the neglect. The first poem is a gentler verse for the bit of broth Sam made there, before meeting Faramir - the second is for the window beneath the waterfall of Henneth Annun and the contrast of its color and light with the darkness the men were dwelling in behind it.
Ithilien
A brace of coney, a bit of broth,
The sweet herbs growing all around.
If we only had taters, oh what a feast!
What a garden this must have been.
A soft bed of fern, gently rustling trees,
Pungent bay and winter fruit,
Flowers wild in abandoned grace,
So near to darkness, green life holds sway.
Once more, Ithilien
Beside the shadows you blossom,
Once more, Ithilien
Your life struggles through.
Fountains and waterfalls trickling still,
Clear water to wash in, and to drink.
Rest and food and light and scent -
Weary eyes can finally close.
Under your boughs they peacefully sleep.
They have come to you, and will come again.
These travelers small with a burden great,
By their deeds Ages will begin and end.
Once more, Ithilien
A gardener's hands are among you.
Once more, Ithilien,
You will awaken and bloom.
-
Window on the West
“They stood on a wet floor of polished stone, the door-step, as it were, of a rough-hewn gate of rock opening dark behind them. But in front, a thin veil of water was hung…. It faced westward. The level shafts of the setting sun behind beat upon it, and the red light was broken into many flickering beams of ever-changing colour….” -TTT
By crystal curtain and rose-lit mist we see this
Brief tapestry of jewels, streams of light they weave;
A Glory framed with darkness,
Hidden wonder of the realm;
Our souls suffuse with light, and our hearts overwhelm,
With a longing for a home of beauty and of peace,
Deep memories of some heart’s desire, a cry that’s never ceased,
For another time and place, where our suffering need not be.
But it is gone, gone…
With verdant grasses blooming and whispering bright trees,
Blessed Isle of Númenor,
Now lost beneath the sea.
The vibrant colors shine, and gleaming shift upon the floor,
A misty veil darkens the mossy stones beside the door.
The darkness will enclose us,
As we fade away from light,
As unto the darkness we must give our hope and sight.
We slowly turn to enter, the waiting Dark is vast,
But first we will stand to watch this Glory pass:
Bittersweet and lovely. Our aching hearts are sore,
The light is gone, gone…
How the Twilight veil of mourning mists the stony floor,
Lying wet and darkened
With the tears of Númenor.
-