|
I have said at least once elsewhere how attached I am to this poem (even though I (eek parodied a chunk of it for ReVerse!) . I read some where that Hill and Tolkien had a running joke regarding the items sent to him by fans, that if she ever opened a letter and a diamond bracelet fell out, she could keep it. Then one day she picked up a book and this poem fell out and she claimed it as her "diamond bracelet"!......
To me this is one of Tolkien's finest poems, if not the finest... i think it can "stand alone" since the journey can be seen as a metaphorical as well as a more literal description of the journey of the ringbearers .....
In that context there are two phrases I find particularly moving "where nights are quiet and sleep is rest" ... althoughI connect them with Frodo and his nightmares rather than Bilbo....
The other is "Guided by the Lonely Star " . If I am right to assume this means Earendil, I think it is quite comforting that Elrond, who of course is on the same ship, is being watched over and led by his father as he makes that bittersweet journey away from his children but towards reunion with Celebrian.
__________________
“But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.”
Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace
|