Lament for Gondolin

by Tal
Feb. 9, 2002

O Gondolin!
Beautiful and hidden, as white flower in the winter's snow,
Amid the mountains in Tumladen, beyond the eyes of the black foe
O Gondolin!
Of white, silver and gold,
Most fair of the Noldor's cities of old

There minstrels sang, at the coming of dawn
They sang of the trees, which in the gardens have shone.
They sang of the fountains, which glittered beneath the sun
And their streams under Ulmo, joyfully ran.
They sang of the world, and his shaping in mirth
Of the clouds of the sky, and the ways of the earth
Of the depths of the sea, and the stars of the night
Which were made long ago, by Varda the bright.

In the courts of Turgon,
There stood two trees of powers
One made of gold, the other had silver flowers.
Glingal and Belthil, so were they called
And they were wrought by the king, in memory of old
The memory of the Two Trees which filled Valinor with great light
Ere Melkor destroyed them, and fled into the night.

O Gondolin
Beyond the words of beauty, which Elven tongue tells
High were your walls, smooth were your stairs.
Tall and strong was the tower, the white tower of the king
Which was wrapped in colorful flowers, at the times of the spring.

Wise and fair, the people of Gondolin grew
Beneath the sky where the eagles, of Manwe then flew.
Shutting their ears, for the woes of the land
Though to them hope still seemed bright, all to ruin fell Beleriand.

O Gondolin!
Mighty was your fall, by the pride of your greatness.
The white flower has withered, in unspeakable sadness.
A fair memory which lives only, in poems and dreams,
For your golden roofs lie beneath now, the many sea's streams.