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Unread 03-23-2006, 04:38 PM
Daniel Haar Daniel Haar is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Washington, DC, USA
Posts: 920
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Yes Tolkein, though he wrote a lot of bad poetry. There are a few memorable ones, though:

1)
Far over the Misty Mountains cold,
To dungeons deep and caverns old,
We must away, ere break of day,
To seek our pale enchanted gold.

...

2)

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

3)

Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
Blunt the knives and bend the forks!
That's what Bilbo hates -
Smash the bottles and burn the corks!

...

If we are mentioning Tolkein, I think we should mention his prolific literary forebear, William Morris, who wrote some wonderful early fantasy, much poetry (only some good), translations from Icelandic, and mastered about 17 crafts. Here's a piece of one of my favorites of his:

LOVE is enough: though the World be a-waning,
And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,
Though the sky be too dark for dim eyes to discover
The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,
Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder,
And this day draw a veil over all deeds pass'd over,
Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter;
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.
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