Lament for Boromir -- J R R Tolkien

45 poems done and not a single Tolkien from me? Time to rectify that...

(Poem #46) Lament for Boromir Through Rohan over fen and field where the long grass grows The West Wind comes walking, and about the walls it goes. 'What news from the West, O wandering wind, do you bring to me tonight? Have you seen Boromir the Tall by moon or by starlight?' 'I saw him ride over seven streams, over waters wide and grey; I saw him walk in empty lands, until he passed away Into the shadows of the North. I saw him then no more. The North Wind may have heard the horn of the son of Denethor.' 'O Boromir! From the high walls westward I looked afar, But you came not from the empty lands where no men are.' From the mouths of the Sea the South Wind flies, from the sandhills and the stones; The wailing of the gulls it bears, and at the gate it moans. 'What news from the South, O sighing wind, do you bring to me at eve? Where now is Boromir the fair? He tarries and I grieve.' 'Ask not of me where he doth dwell --- so many bones there lie On the white shores and the dark shores under the stormy sky; So many have passed down Anduin to find the flowing Sea. Ask of the North Wind news of them the North Wind sends to me!' 'O Boromir! Beyond the gate the seaward road runs south, But you came not with the wailing gulls from the grey sea's mouth.' From the Gate of Kings the North Wind rides, and past the roaring falls; And clear and cold about the tower its loud horn calls. 'What news from the North, O mighty wind, do you bring to me today? What news of Boromir the Bold? For he is long away.' 'Beneath Amon Hen I heard his cry. There many foes he fought. His cloven shield, his broken sword, they to the water brought. His head so proud, his face so fair, his limbs they laid to rest; And Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, bore him upon its breast.' 'O Boromir! The Tower of Gaurd shall ever northward gaze To Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, until the end of days.' -- J R R Tolkien

Tolkien's massive popularity sometimes leads people (who ought to know
better) to dismiss him as being a lightweight author - a writer of
lowbrow, escapist fairy tales which no serious student of literature
should bother with.

If you ask me, nothing could be further from the truth.

The fact is, Tolkien was (and is) one of the greatest lyric poets of the
20th century; indeed, I can think of no poet after Yeats with such a
facility for creating hauntingly beautiful turns of phrase that resonate
in your memory long after you read them... you come across a snatch of
verse from Tolkien, and you think, "That sounds so *right*"... it's as
if the poetry has existed for eternity, and Tolkien simply plucked it
out of the ether and put it down on paper.

His cult following on campuses around the should also not obscure the
fact that Tolkien's  writing was carefully and painstakingly researched,
drawing on a variety of sources (Norse epic poetry, Anglo-Saxon
alliterative verse, heroic rhyming couplets...) to create an evocative,
yet deceptively simple style of his own. The above poem is a good
example of his work: the language is unstrained and natural, the metre
and rhyme is never anything less than perfect, the images (especially
the striking descriptions of whole landscapes in a few short words) are
haunting...

The poem also has a wonderful unity of structure and composition - the
apostrophes to (in turn) the three winds and their respective answers
form a natural progression, culminating in the last couplet; the
repetition of the phrase 'Rauros, golden Rauros-falls' adds to the
poignancy of the lament.

thomas.

PS. A brief glossary / guide:

Boromir, son of Denethor: one of the members in the Fellowship of the
Ring; died defending his weaker companions against overwhelming numbers.
Called Boromir the Tall.

Amon Hen: 'Hill of Sight'. Where Boromir fought his last battle.

Anduin: the Great River of Middle Earth; Boromir was laid to rest in a
boat and set free to float down the river and into the sea.

Rauros: 'Noise-foam'. A series of waterfalls on the Anduin, near Amon
Hen.

Rohan: Just a place.

Note the detail in the geography: part of the magic of Tolkien's world
is the elaborate care with which he constructed the landscapes, the
histories, the etymologies...