Journey to the Sea - Poems Inspired by 'The Lord of the Rings'

A poem about temptation and the corrupting influence of power inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's Witchking in "The Lord of the Rings"

Once I rode a pony small;

I sat upon my father's knee.

My mother sang fair lullabies

And placed her warm arms around me.

My father said, "Be strong! Be brave!

And strive to win whate'er you do."

I scarce remember, just in dreams

That once I was a man like you.

Once my father passed away,

And I ascended to the throne,

My mother said, "Be strong. Be brave,

And make this kingdom now your own."

I took the sword. I chose the blade

And wielded it to claim my due.

At least it seems thus in my dreams,

When once I was a man like you.

Once a noble came to me

Austere he looked in raiment grand.

Reading the desires of my heart,

He placed the future in my hand.

To me he said, "Fight strong. Fight hard,

This ring shall win what you pursue."

And when I wore it on my hand,

I ceased to be a man like you.

And now my flesh has turned to ruin,

My fine robes rotting with my skin.

And I with man no more commune

Except my howl upon the wind.

My blade now tears through mortal flesh,

Knowing no man's blade can undo

The evil that I have become --

I, who was once a man like you.

So when you hear the howling wind,

Recall my voice as fell it falls --

The scream of evil agony,

Remind you of my father's halls:

The boy I was; the choice I made;

The power I sought; then was seduced.

This evil token on my hand --

Could you refuse it - a man like you?

~ Journey to the Sea ~

A Poem Inspired by Lord of the Rings about an elf's journey to his destiny

Brave archer-son of woodland elves

In evil's growing shadows dwelt

In Elven halls of fantasy

Beneath the stars, under the trees.

Gone, the years of complacency:

No more the magic dinner feasts,

Deer driven out by cunning beasts.

The shadows grew a doom to tell

That must be brought to Elvendell.

A culminating prophecy.

Around the table tales were told

Of dark wraiths seen and rings of gold;

As tempers flared he made his case

To aid a friend, defend his race --

Irked by the dwarf's obduracy.

A strange pact forged in anger bound

Son of the tree, son of the ground.

Nine walkers made the choice that day,

A journey planned and then... away!

To carry war's diplomacy.

O'er barren lands to goblin mines.

Trolls, goblins, threats his bow would find -

Fell victims of his accuracy.

Through dark and danger, fire and flame,

The Demon's whip and burning mane.

At last escaping at great cost -

Their guide, their friend, the Wizard lost.

Despairing in their misery,

Still pressing on o'er glade they ran,

Into the trees - enchanted land -

In golden woods to find release:

A time to mourn, a time of peace,

Until the fateful prophecy...

A boat ride South with seven friends,

Where waters fall, the River ends;

As did the Fellowship that day.

Two halflings gone; two swept away

By Necromancer's progeny.

There one strong man succumbed at last,

Then lost his life while standing fast

Against goblins' foul piracy.

To horse lands fast on foot they flew

To find their friends, their bonds renew.

Into the living woods they dared -

A meeting caught them unprepared:

The White Wizard's conspiracy.

Dark days grew darker as they tread

Where none would go - Paths of the Dead.

There a Ranger cast off his doubts;

His power drove the dead to rout

To usher in his legacy.

By Great River the dead host sailed

Vows were fulfilled -- the host prevailed.

Yet in triumph on battle's field,

The Elf-son knew his doom was sealed

While gulls called o'er the war's frenzy.

As one lord spurned the Wizard's plea,

Snared by his own complicity.

Faithful companions journeyed on.

The company looked for the dawn

While battle raged on endlessly,

Fighting the fell and monstrous beasts.

They bravely suffered selflessly

Until the reign of terror ceased,

The ring destroyed, the lands released;

The King was crowned; the world knew peace.

For Elven-son - dichotomy...

Such wonders have I known and seen,

Such friends I've had, such victories,

Such joy I've felt beneath the leaves...

No more for me... no more to be...

No more at rest under the tree,

My home become a fallacy.

Gulls on the shore call out to me;

The tides rise in supremacy.

A yearning born from dormancy

Waking me from complacency.

My heart cries out for clemency,

For succor from the thing it seeks --

The doom proclaimed in prophecy.

Will my heart never more run free?

Until at last it finds release

Beside the sea... beyond the sea...

-- Both poems previously published in Silver Leaves: The Journal of the White Tree Fund

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