Comments | izhilzha: Poetry Month, right?

izhilzha

Poetry Month, right?

Apr 12, 2006 11:00

O! Wanderers in the shadowed land
Despair not! For though dark they stand,
All woods there be must end at last,
And see the open sun go past:
The setting sun, the rising sun,
The day's end, or the day begun.
For east or west all woods must fail.

--J.R.R. Tolkien
The Fellowship of the RingIf anyone has the book at hand, this sounds like it's ( Read more... )

poetry, lotr, request

Comments 9

lapinguina April 12 2006, 18:47:24 UTC

I looked it up online and found this site, which says:

O! Wanderers in the shadowed land.
Despair not! For though dark they stand,
All woods there be must end at last,
And see the open sun go past:
The setting sun, the rising sun,
The day's end, or the days begun.
For east or west all woods must fail. . . [110]

Frodo does not end the poem known to the reader because of the ellipses at the end. The word "fails" lingers in the air bringing about the small likelihood of a successful outcome at the end of their adventure. Only after the adventures have passed and been recorded does Frodo finally finish the poem, leaving only the possibility of future adventures :

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate;
And though I oft have passed them by,
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun. [1005]I can ask my LOTR-know-it-all friend Sarah about it when she gets back from class in half an hour-ish, if you want to know more... although I think her specialty is ( ... )

izhilzha April 12 2006, 19:22:33 UTC

Frodo does not end the poem known to the reader because of the ellipses at the end.

You're right, yeah, he doesn't finish it--the trees in the Old Forest don't like him singing. That must be what I was feeling, though I really though the site might have left a line out somewhere in the middle....

The word "fails" lingers in the air bringing about the small likelihood of a successful outcome at the end of their adventure. Only after the adventures have passed and been recorded does Frodo finally finish the poem, leaving only the possibility of future adventures :

Hmmm. I agree that it underlines the seriousness of the adventure, of the despair that the characters will encounter later, but if I recall correctly, that second poem is not a completetion of the "woods must fail" one, but Frodo's revision of another walking song:

The Road goes ever on and on ( ... )

jhall1 April 12 2006, 20:47:26 UTC

I'm pretty sure that it is, though my copy of LotR is currently on loan to my sister-in-law. It was written by Bilbo, IIRC, and I believe first appears in The Hobbit, but I think that Frodo recites it when he and Sam leave his front door to begin their journey.

mistraltoes April 13 2006, 02:59:35 UTC

Don't be cranky. Will it make you less cranky if I tell you that I'm working on the beta? How about if I tell you I've got you a copy of Pulitzer by Elizabeth Storm, if you still want it?

izhilzha April 13 2006, 03:41:45 UTC

Aw. It was just a cranky semi-depressive day. I'm feeling better now--and yes, it does rather help to know that the story didn't get lost in cyberspace on its way to you. :-) Take your time! I'm writing Numb3rs fluff in the meantime (starring Alan and Larry, so far, though I think I heard Charlie come in just now...).

Pulitzer! I haven't read it for years and the bookstores never have copies! And what splendid timing this is. My birthday is the 23rd. Do you have my snail addy?

mistraltoes April 13 2006, 07:28:03 UTC

I apologize for not letting you know I'd got the fic--I was hibernating for most of last week and didn't check E-mail, and since I finally remembered to check, I've been absolutely swamped. I've only read it a couple of times to get a preliminary feel for it (and yes, I like it muchly, though I do have a few suggestions). But my schedule clears up on Saturday, so expect detailed comments Monday or Tuesday.

And yes, I copied down your snail addy when you posted it at Christmas. Actually the package has been addressed since the week after Christmas, but I procrastinated about sending it for so long that I started to wonder if you'd already gotten a copy. I'll send it to the post office next time somebody goes. :D

izhilzha April 13 2006, 16:42:22 UTC

I've only read it a couple of times to get a preliminary feel for it (and yes, I like it muchly, though I do have a few suggestions). But my schedule clears up on Saturday, so expect detailed comments Monday or Tuesday.

*marks mental calendar* If you don't get it done, that's okay. Just so you know. :-) It's actually kind of nice having that one out of my mental space for a while--Don's head, at that moment, was not a terribly pleasant place to be.

Glad you like it. I was nervous as all heck about this one, hence the long time it took getting sent to you.

And yes, I copied down your snail addy when you posted it at Christmas. Actually the package has been addressed since the week after Christmas, but I procrastinated about sending it for so long that I started to wonder if you'd already gotten a copy. I'll send it to the post office next time somebody goes. :D

:-D I am amused. And I feel loved, and pleased, and yay for Al-fic! *bounces in glee*

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