Author: Dreamflower
Title: Ode to the Shire: Arising from quiet fields...
Rating: G
Theme: Poetry--Ode to Arda
Elements: kind/find
Author's Notes: I decided to intersperse the quotations that inspired this poem at the end of each verse.
The first quotation is Elrond, near the end of the chapter "The Council of Elrond", and the other two are from Matthew 5:5 and 5:7.
Summary: A poem in praise of the Shire, for bringing forth heroes meek yet mighty.
Word Count: 237

To the East of the Sundering Sea,
To the West of the Northern Wilds,
there is a land green and free,
where the Halfling folk reside.

This is the hour

For nearly half an Age,
they quietly tilled and plowed;
innocent and sage,
with blessings were endowed.

of the Shire-folk...

From where the Baranduin flows,
through fragrant, fertile fields,
where verdant bounty grows,
to the Western boundary hills.

when they arise from their quiet fields...

Home to a people of mercy and grace,
humble, hard-working, thankful and kind;
yet when danger threatens they are ready to face
whatever ill-fortune they find.

to shake the towers and counsels of the Great.

Unseen, unappreciated and unknown
save by only one of the Wise,
in hard times taking care of their own
until the day came when some would rise.

Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it?

Cared for by the tender heart of their land,
their own tender hearts reached out.
And leaving her protection behind
They ventured into fear and doubt.

Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it,

And while they were gone from home,
home was struck by fear and sorrow,
for they were a folk not meant to roam,
nor built to worry for tomorrow.

until the hour has struck?

But day by day and foot by foot,
the wanderers continued on;
not faltering with backwards look
from the task they agreed upon.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Then they were drawn back home,
to free their land from peril and woe,
to come once more to claim their own,
and their worth to all would show.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.