To celebrate, I cite one of the to me lesser known poems. It is taken from the very last chapter of The Hobbit - an Elvish lullaby to make Bilbo sleep himself healthy and hale.
Many happy returns and a deepfelt thank you for the fantasy and poetry.
Sing all ye joyful, now sing all together!
The wind’s in the tree-top, the wind's in the heather;
The stars are in blossom, the moon is in flower,
And bright are the windows of Night in her tower.
Dance all ye joyful, now dance all together!
Soft is the grass, and let foot be like feather!
The river is silver, the shadows are fleeting;
Merry is May-time, and merry our meeting.
Sing we now softly, and dreams let us weave him!
Wind him in slumber and there let us leave him!
The wanderer sleepeth. Now soft be his pillow!
Lullaby! Lullaby! Alder and Willow!
Sigh no more Pine, till the wind of the morn!
Fall Moon! Dark be the land!
Hush! Hush! Oak, Ash, and Thorn!
Hushed be all water, till dawn is at hand!
J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit, The Last Stage.
I do remember this poem, it made a lasting impression when the book was first read to me.
SvarSletI mostly remember Bibo's irritation over being awoken by a lullaby ;) but as I told River, the poems have grown on me as I have gotten older - and able to read Tolkien's works in English. The Danish translations are good, but not outstanding.
SletI wonder whether he knew just how many people he had reached. And how many people loved his work. I hope so.
SvarSletI don't think he ever cared to be frank. He wanted to tell his story, as he wanted it to be told, fame and fortune and all the rest were just side effects to him - at least how I understood it.
SletI recently read The Hobbit after avoiding it for years and years, all those pages of elven songs I found to be quite annoying. A verse or two would be okay to me but these just went on too long and detracted from the story for me. The actual story wasn't too bad, I quite liked that, but I won't be reading it again.
SvarSletI skipped some of the verses on the first read-throughs, they have grown on me since. I hope you'll read it again - or The Lord of the Rings again some time later.
SletWonderful
SvarSlet