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As a reader and writer, I love the way the poems and books I heart always stay with me.<\/p>\nAs a reader and writer, I love the way the poems and books I heart always stay with me.<\/p>\n
Some of you may have picked up that I like to get out into the great outdoors as well \u2013 and yesterday I set out amid a late afternoon that very much resembled Keats\u2019 \u201cseason of mist and mellow fruitfulness\u201d<\/em>, with the mountains blue and clear across the plain, and the poplar leaves a burnished gold along the river.<\/p>\n A coastal environment is always a dynamic one, however, and just as I turned back a southerly squall hit, ripping in off the Southern Ocean. So I found myself walking along a clifftop high above the river and into the teeth of the southerly, amid a swirl and spiraling of golden leaves \u2013 while not too far ahead of me, the ocean was transformed from mirror glass into whitecaps and spindrift.<\/p>\n Seized by the energy of the moment, I found myself reciting (although shouting might be more accurate, given no one else was near to hear \ud83d\ude09 ) lines from Galadariel\u2019s song, in The Lord Of The Rings<\/em><\/strong>, into the wind.<\/p>\n Galadriel farewells the fellowship…<\/p><\/div>\n You know, the one from the end of The Fellowship of the Ring<\/em><\/strong>, when she and Celeborn farewell the fellowship from Lothlorien:<\/p>\n \u201cI sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew, \u201cHorns, horns, horns\u2026great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n That particular passage still gives me goosebumps, even though I\u2019ve read it many times. The weather was not the only reason it suited the day either. Yesterday was ANZAC Day, which commemorates the New Zealanders and Australians that served in the First and Second World Wars, in particular, but also more recent wars. Tolkien served in WW1, and his account of the siege of Minas Tirith, which concludes with the arrival of the Rohirrim, encapsulates a darkness, desperation, and terror that was very likely grounded in his own experience of war.<\/p>\n ANZAC Day Observed<\/strong><\/p>\n NZEF Trooper 203453 by Leigh Vickridge<\/a><\/p>\n ANZAC Day & \u201cThe Walk Home\u201d on Radio New Zealand National<\/a><\/p>\n ANZAC Day & The NZ Novel<\/a><\/p>\n ANZAC Day & Poetry<\/a><\/p>\n The ANZAC Memorial: The Words of M. Kemal Ataturk<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Galadriel.jpg\")
\n<\/em>Of wind I sang, a wind there came, and in the branches blew,
\n<\/em>Beyond the sun, beyond the moon, the foam was on the sea,
\nAnd by the strand of Ilmarin, there grew a golden tree\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Return-of-the-King-192x300.jpeg\")
The leaves and the sea are doubtless reason enough for shouting those words into the wind, but given the grandeur and wildness of the unexpected squall, I did wonder if it might not be a moment for lines that appear later, in The Return of the King<\/em>:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Tu.jpeg\")
If you would like to reflect further on ANZAC Day itself, the following link to ANZAC reflections, including poetry, that I\u2019ve posted in other years:<\/p>\n
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