Dol Guldur  1997

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Nightshade Forests

And in the glade a light was seen
Of stars and shadows shimmering
Immortal maiden elven-wise...
Long was the way through iron halls and darkling doors

And woods of nightshade morrowless
Elven-wise dance with me...
Cold be hand, heart and bone
And cold be my sleep under stone
Never more I'll wake on a snowy bed
Never - 'til the sun fails and the moon is dead

In the black winds the stars shall die
And still on gold here let them lie
'Til the dark lord lifts his hand
Over dead seas and withered land

And I'll fly away...
Where I dwell none can say
For into darkness fell my star
In Mordor where the shadows are

Elfstone

All that is gold does not glitter
All that is long does not last
All that is old does not wither
Not all that is over is past
And I may not get through in time
Oh, Elfstone - bearer of my green stone
In the south under snow a green stone thou shalt see
Elfstone - in the shadow of the dark throne
For the hour is at hand that long hath awaited thee
Greenleaf - bearer of the Elvenbow
Far beyond Mirkwood many trees on earth grow
Thy last shaft when thou hast shot
Under the mournful trees thou shalt walk
For dark are the waters of Kheledzaram
And my heart trembles at the thought that I may see them soon
I am longing for harmony - the freedom within me
Out of dark to the day's rising
I came crying in the sun - sword unsheathing
To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking
Now for wrath
Now for ruin - and a red nightfall
When the black breath blows - and death's shadows grow
All lights pass
Life to the dying - in my hand lying
Shrivel like the old mist - like the winds go wailing
Lost and forgotten be - darker than the darkness
Where gates stand for ever shut
'Til the world is mended

Khazad Dum

From ashes and fire be broken
A light from the shadows shall spring
Renewed shall be blade that was broken
The crownless shall again be king

The world is grey, the mountains old
The forge's fire is ashen and cold
No harp is wrung, no hammer falls
The darkness dwells in Druin's halls

The shadow lies upon his tomb
But still the sunken stars appeal
In the dark and windless Mirrormere
There lies his crown in water deep

'Til Druin wakes again from sleep
A deadly sword, a healing hand
A trumpet - voice, a burning hand
A lord of Wisdom...

Fire and shadow - both defied
In Khazad-Dum his wisdom died
In joy thou hast lived

If thou hearest the cry
of the Gull on the shore
Thy soul shall then rest
in the forest no more...

Kor

O fading town upon an island hill,
Old shadows linger in thine ancient gate,
Thy robe is grey, thine old heart now is still;
Thy towers silent in the mist await their crumbling end
While through the storeyed elms
The gliding black water leaves these inland realms,
And slips between long meadows to the Sea,
Still bearing downward over murmurous falls
One day and then another to the Sea
And slowly thither many years have gone

All thy trees, Kortirion, were bent,
And shook with sudden whispering lament:
For passing were the days, and doomed the nights
When flittering ghost-moths danced round
tapers in the moveless air nighttime

And doomed already were the radiant dawns,
The odour and the noise of meads,
when all thy trees were bent,
and shook with sudden whispering lament

And slowly thither many years have gone
since first the elves here built ancient, renowned Kortirion

Unto A Long Glory...

Over the land there lies the long shadow.
Westward reaching wings of darkness;
The Tower trembles to the tombs of kings

The doom approaches the Dead awaken;
For the hour is come for the oathbreakers
At the stone of Erech they shall stand again
Hear there horn in hills enchants
Who shall call them
From grey twilight
Forgotten ones?

Out of doubt, out of dark
Hope rekindles, and hope in end
Over death, over dread
Over doom lifted
Out of loss, out of life
And out of doubt, out of dark
Over death, over dread
Out of loss,
Unto a long glory...

The heir of him to whom the oath they swore
From the North he shall come
And he shall pass the door
To the Paths of the Dead

Mourn not overmuch - mighty was the fallen
And war now calls us!

And hear there horn in hills ringing
Who shall call them
from grey twilight

Over Old Hills

The air was neither night or a day,
But faintly dark with softest light
When first glimmered into sight
The Cottage of Lost Play

You and me - we know that land
And often have been there in
The old days, old days
The dark child and a fair
Was it down the paths of firelight
Dreams in winter cold and white,
Or in the blue-spun twilight, twilight hours
The air was neither night or day,
But faintly dark with softest light,
When first there glimmered into sight
The Cottage of Lost Play

And why we never found the same
Old cottage, or magic
Track that leads between a silver sea,
Between a silver sea
And those old shores and gardens fair
Where all things are that ever were -
We know not, You and Me
We know not, You and Me

Those old shores and gardens fair
Where all things are
That ever were

The air was neither night or day,
But faintly dark with softest light,
When first there glimmered into sight
The Cottage of Lost Play
And those old shores and gardens
Where all things are that ever were
We know not, You and Me,
We know not, You and Me

And these old shores
And gardens fair
Where all things are
That ever were [before]
Air was neither night or day
But faintly dark with softest light
When first there glimmered
The Cottage of Lost Play

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