There is a scene between Arwen and Elrond in Return of the King where she is asking him to tell her what he saw in her future. He tells her that he sees sorrow and death. As he unfolds to her his vision, the scene shifts to a possible future of hers where she is seen meandering through a dreary wood. She approaches a great bier and on it a marble coffin wherein lies the dead king. The sunset goes down behind her. That is the inspiration for this poem.
The path behind—
a course through lonely wood,
where once you roamed together, sharing smiles,
and dared to measure all that’s green and good.
The path is now behind
—so many miles.
The days have gone—
declined to memory,
and still you stand, grey-robed, there at the toe
of his dark-marbled bier, in misery.
The days have hid away,
—where did they go?
An age has passed—
retreated to the West,
and here you linger, tears like orange cloud
still clotting in your skies, and on your chest.
An age has passed away
—beyond the shroud.
Your life has dimmed—
there’s nothing left but grief,
and you remain, forgetful of tomorrow,
the dust of yesteryear on your kerchief.
Your life has dimmed to naught
—you stay in sorrow.
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