Things of Middle-earth
Bilbo's Last Song
Type: Songs & Stories
Description:Published separately, Bilbo's Last Song is considered by many as an epilogue to LotR. There is a beautiful little edition with color illustrations by Pauline Baynes, who was Tolkien's choice to illustrate a number of his books, including Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham. The illustrations include thumbnail illustrations from The Hobbit and the larger illustrations are of scenes with Bilbo from LotR.
The poem is Bilbo's farewell to Middle-earth as he takes his final voyage to the Undying Lands.
Day is ended, dim my eyes,
but journey long before me lies.
Farewell, friends! I hear the call.
The ship's beside the stoney wall.
Foam is white and waves are grey;
beyond the sunset leads my way.
Foam is salt, the wind is free;
I hear the rising of the Sea.
Farewell, friends! The sails are set,
the wind is east, the moorings fret.
Shadows long before me lie,
beneath the ever-bending sky,
But islands lie behind the Sun
that I shall raise ere all is done;
Lands there are to west of West,
where night is quiet and sleep is rest.
Guided by the Lonely Star,
beyond the utmost harbour-bar
I'll find the havens fair and free,
and beaches of the Starlit Sea.
Ship, my ship! I seek the West,
and fields and mountains ever blest.
Farewell to Middle-earth at last,
I see the Star above your mast!
Contributors: ~Nessime 08-20-03
