Uncle Lance Day, 20 Nov 2022
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