In Western Lands Beneath the Sun

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In Western Lands Beneath the Sun

by J.R.R. Tolkien

In western lands beneath the Sun
the flowers may rise in Spring,
the trees may bud, the waters run,
the merry finches sing.
Or there maybe ’tis cloudless night
and swaying beeches bear
the Elven-stars as jewels white
amid their branching hair.
 
Though here at journey’s end I lie
in darkness buried deep,
beyond all towers strong and high,
beyond all mountains steep,
above all shadows rides the Sun
and Stars for ever dwell:
I will not say the Day is done,
nor bid the Stars farewell.

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This piece by J.R.R. Tolkien is one of my favorite of his poems, and it is from The Lord of the Rings. Within the books, it is sung by Sam Gamgee inside the Tower of Cirith Ungol while he is looking for Frodo. 

With that context in mind, the poem’s message is more clear. The poem is hopeful, despite the Speaker’s admission that he is in the darkest of times and circumstances. The Speaker reminds himself that the sun and the stars exist beyond the shadows covering the world. The message is that the light never stops existing even in times of shadow and darkness. The darkness is a temporal thing, with a limited reach, whereas the light is permanent and eternal. 

The poem is in two eight line stanzas, each with a rhyme scheme of ABABCDCD. The general pattern of the meter is alternating between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, though this is not done perfectly throughout. 

As the poem from the book is intended to be sung, there are numerous adapations of the piece, setting it to music. I have embedded some of those below, from the BBC radio dramatization, sung by Bill Nighy.