Climbing the horizon above the hills
Golden light shining on the streets,
I rise at dawn to do the king’s will
At his throne Grima also I’ll meet

Helpless to act, I watch him listen
The wicked advice of that serpent
“This creature” I vainly tell him
“Speaks evil without ceasing”

My words soon unheeded
My face grave without expression
I flee to my chamber to my bed
Dropping to my knees in sorrow

Oh this place is helpless and poor
Cheerless, weak, and led by evil!
The king never passing his hall doors
Darkness and evil shroud his mind.

A voice coming from the hall
The words of a messenger:
Four travelers wait at the wall
To speak to the king in person

Surely nothing, my mind tells me;
Just another group of men
Wanting to help the king see
Their great need for help

Voices shouting, anger rising
The fools in the distant hall
Have fed the king’s anger
Against them all!

Stepping out without a word,
Walking slowly on the threshold,
Listening intently to their words –
Pale feet on the stones so cold

Behold! A sight of wonder!
Just steps from the throne,
Mithrandir! Mithrandir!
There again and not alone!

What a wonder, a recovered king!
And taking Gandalf’s advice!
No more lies will he see
For the darkness fled at last

My eyes are caught away
To a sight very near
A man standing by the way
Watching what unfolds

His brown eyes and dark hair,
Who could he be? No mere ranger!
Strong hands, his face so fair –
Kingly is he, a man of honor

All too soon he’s gone away
Taken by the wind off to war
I’m left alone, bidden to stay
And care for those left behind.
______________________________

So many days later while
Watching the sun rise aloft,
Look! Men riding in file,
Swiftly up to the gate

Aragorn! Aragorn!
My heart leaps at the sight,
Of him among other men,
Back safe from the Deep!

But only to leave again?
To certain death and peril
His victory uncertain
In a last desperate plan

I will not be left behind!
Only tending the weak,
Idle and purposeless in mind;
I can do so much more!

“It is not your place.”
He tells me softly,
Gazing into my face
“You must stay here.”

“I cannot stay while you leave,
For my heart deeply yearns
To do a noble deed,
To be a warrior!” I plead

My heart cries as he leaves
“It’s more than just duty –
The love from him that I seek
He won’t return to me.”

How can I bear it once more?
Will everyone I love
And care for and desire,
Forever leave me behind?

Hope for him is so small,
He goes to certain death,
Out of this hall
To the Paths of the Dead

What else is there for me,
But to gain honour and glory
Under the sun shining
On the battlefield?

If my life is worth nothing
And the man that I love
His own love restraining
Leaving me with naught…
______________________________

The lovely lady Éowyn
Lying cold on a bed
Noble deeds she did win
Defending her king

Éomer, her noble brother
Anxiously waits and watches
For someone to help her,
And stop the shadow consuming

Oh the pain she had suffered!
Her arms not only hurt
But mind and heart also wounded
Sinking deep into despair

A love that could not be hers,
And honour and glory
Attained though they were
Could not bring joy to her soul

Called out of the darkness
First one voice, then another –
To awaken conscious
Her beloved brother beside her

He had not died in war?
He returned, her dear brother!
But the king lay way afar
Lying there where he was slain

Oh the sorrows of this evil
That had torn her world apart!
And changed her very will
To desire death and not life
______________________________

Restoration of her body,
Yet she was in her heart
Still searching and empty
Where was there any hope?

Where was the Lord of Gondor?
For him she swiftly sought out
He was the Lord Faramir
Also healing from his wounds

He could not fulfill her desire
She must remain where she was
In the healing houses of care
Where he dwelled also for a time
______________________________

Walking in the gardens with him
Many times in the cool air
The War of the Ring others did win
Far off at the Black Gate

But even that did not fill
Her deepest heart’s wishes
Since Aragorn’s love did not still
Her long-aching heart

“Death would have been nobler” –
A warrior’s death she desired
The blow should have killed her;
Oh why had she wakened?

How can it possibly be so, –
A tear slips down her cheek
The wind ruffles her hair and blows
Her sigh away to the east

Behind her, steps approach;
The fair Lord Faramir
Her sorrow he did not reproach
But declared her beautiful

After words of love so fair
From the lips of the steward,
She was freed from despair
Her heart’s wounds healed.

She would help care for others
And love another at last
For love had finally come to her
Giving purpose in life

Following the King’s return
And several festivities
The lord and lady wed, then
Receiving the home of Ithilien

And one learns in such a story:
Not only can love just heal
A heart so lost and empty,
But that hope can always be found

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"'Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.'" ~ Aragorn, The Return of the King