I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been; Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were, with morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair. I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be when winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see. For still there are so many things that I have never seen: in every wood in every spring there is a different green. I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago and people who will see a world that I shall never know. But all the while I sit and think of times there were before, I listen for returning feet and voices at the door.
Sung by Bilbo Baggins to his nephew Frodo, upon saying farewell to him in Rivendell.
poem in context: The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Ring Goes South" (chapter excerpt including poem) [LingQ]
song source: Katherine Kocs' Song of the Soul (2007) (audio no longer online) [Northern Spirit Radio]
Uncle Lance Day, 20 Nov 2022