From silver trunk the golden leaf

Blows through the old abandoned fief,

For Time, the robber and the thief,

Has brought the hidden realm to grief:

……………..The wonder is withdrawn.

Now far beyond the Western Sea

The merry folk have gone to be

Naught but a fading memory

……………..In Caras Galadon.

 

For untold years Galadriel

Did weave her magic and her spell.

Nor warg nor orc nor dragon fell

Could enter the enchanted veil

Until it was withdrawn.

Now in the once protected Wood

The Evil mingles with the Good—

Foul things that never could have stood

……………..In Caras Galadon.

 

Now through the hushed and chilling air

There rings no voice of minstrel fair,

No melody of sweetness rare,

No magic words beyond compare;

……………..The music is withdrawn.

The happy sound of harper’s glee

……………..Sounds only far beyond the Sea.

The rasping raven’s symphony

……………..Fills Caras Galadon.

 

In Cerin Amroth, Arwen’s tomb

Lies hidden in the gathering gloom.

The niphredil no longer bloom.

She sleeps within that narrow room,

……………..All memory withdrawn.

The sons to Aragorn she bore:

They come to mourn her there no more.

They sleep beneath the marble floor

Of cold and deep Rath Dinen, far

……………..From Caras Galadon.

 

A lonely wanderer passes by;

He sees there is no shelter nigh.

The stars are twinkling in the sky.

He groans, and on the ground doth lie

……………..Within his cloak withdrawn.

The leaves are rustling on high.

It seems to him they softly sigh

A sad lament — he knows not why —

……………..In Caras Galadon.

 

Note: This poem is excerpted from Dr. Williams’s new book Stars through the Clouds: The Collected Poetry of
Donald T. Williams (Lantern Hollow Press, 2020) and is used here by permission.

---

Citation Information

Donald T. Williams, “Loth Lorien,” An Unexpected Journal 3, no. 1. (Spring 2020), 141-144.

Direct Link: https://anunexpectedjournal.com/lothlorien/