This is a poem I wrote back in middle school, after I read The Lord of the Rings for the first time. I had forgotten about it completely, but while digging through my room the other day, I unearthed it. Though some of the rhymes aren't exact, and the rhythm's kind of fickle, I think it's aged rather well.
The story is that of Trevaryu, a somewhat melancholy seer of the nomadic Bewoun tribe, whose lover, Eibann, went to war. While he was gone, she had a vision of herself wasting away from sorrow and eventually dying, which she recorded in the form of the ballad. It was not to be her fate, fortunately. Eibann returned soon after, and they lived together in happiness until the end of their lives.
The story is that of Trevaryu, a somewhat melancholy seer of the nomadic Bewoun tribe, whose lover, Eibann, went to war. While he was gone, she had a vision of herself wasting away from sorrow and eventually dying, which she recorded in the form of the ballad. It was not to be her fate, fortunately. Eibann returned soon after, and they lived together in happiness until the end of their lives.
The Ballad of Trevaryu
My love, my love, my only love!
They have taken you from me,
To ford the raging river,
And then to cross the sea.
My love, my love, my only love!
They have taken you from me.
So while you are marching
'Long some far-off lonely shore,
I'll lay me down to sleeping
Beneath the grassy moor.
My love, my love, my only love!
They have taken you from me.
The nightingale sings so sweetly
A sorrowful little song,
And flies on wings of evening,
As shadows become long.
My love, my love, my only love!
They have taken you from me.
Then as the distant stars come out,
The soft night breezes stir
The flowers that sway above me--
A perfumed, petaled pyre.
My love, my love, my only love!
They have taken you from me.
So when you have returned
From lands of far-off fame,
Come guard your lover's grave,
On this barren, rolling plain.
My love, my love, my only love!
Please come again to me.
And when your head's white as the foam
That's fore'er tossed on the sea,
Then we shall meet once more,
As you come to sleep and dream with me.
My love, my love, my only love!
Please come again to me.
See, now the light is fading,
The dove sleeps in her nest,
And on the wild, wind-swept moor,
We two lovers find our rest.
My love, my love, my only love!
You have come again to me.
My love, my love, my only love!
They have taken you from me,
To ford the raging river,
And then to cross the sea.
My love, my love, my only love!
They have taken you from me.
So while you are marching
'Long some far-off lonely shore,
I'll lay me down to sleeping
Beneath the grassy moor.
My love, my love, my only love!
They have taken you from me.
The nightingale sings so sweetly
A sorrowful little song,
And flies on wings of evening,
As shadows become long.
My love, my love, my only love!
They have taken you from me.
Then as the distant stars come out,
The soft night breezes stir
The flowers that sway above me--
A perfumed, petaled pyre.
My love, my love, my only love!
They have taken you from me.
So when you have returned
From lands of far-off fame,
Come guard your lover's grave,
On this barren, rolling plain.
My love, my love, my only love!
Please come again to me.
And when your head's white as the foam
That's fore'er tossed on the sea,
Then we shall meet once more,
As you come to sleep and dream with me.
My love, my love, my only love!
Please come again to me.
See, now the light is fading,
The dove sleeps in her nest,
And on the wild, wind-swept moor,
We two lovers find our rest.
My love, my love, my only love!
You have come again to me.
