nails for the discerning tartan lass

[Alan H]

What is it!?

“Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead,
We'll wander back and home to bed.
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,
Away shall fade! Away shall fade!

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe,
Let them go! Let them go!
Sand and stone and pool and dell,
Fare you well! Fare you well!

Upon the hearth the fire is red,
Beneath the roof there is a bed;
But not yet weary are our feet,
Still round the corner we may meet
A sudden tree or standing stone
That none have seen but we alone.
Tree and flower and leaf and grass,
Let them pass! Let them pass!
Hill and water under sky,
Pass them by! Pass them by!

It's a little JRR Tolkien poem.

Part of it was used in the third movie, as Pippin is serving Denethor in the Hall in Minas Tirith. In the soundtrack, it's called "Mist and Shadow" but in fact the poem occurs earlier in the written story. The four Hobbits- Merry, Pippin, Sam and Frodo are walking through the Shire on the way to Bree, near the beginning of the story in the Fellowship of the Ring, and they sing this as a walking song.

Tolkien loved poetry, and I have to say that while most of his verse is very simple, I like nearly all of it. This is a particularly striking example and it resonates with me very strongly.

Upon the hearth the fire is red,
Beneath the roof there is a bed;
But not yet weary are our feet,
Still round the corner we may meet
A sudden tree or standing stone
That none have seen but we alone.

Of such things are my dreams... some of them, made.