J. R. R. Tolkien
Galadriel’s Lament
I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew
Of wind I sang, a wind there came, and in the branches blew
Beyond the sun, beyond the moon, the foam was on the sea
And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden tree
Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone
In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion
There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years
While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears
O Lórien! The winter comes, the bare and leafless day
The leaves are falling in the stream, the river flows away
O Lórien! Too long I've dwelt upon this hither shore
And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor
But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me?
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a sea?
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a sea?