Galadriel's Lament

Far past the peaks of the high Misty Mountains
Far past the darkness that waits in Mordor
Tall ships are sailing off towards the horizon,
Turning their sails towards that far distant shore.

Far to the west is the land we are bound for,
Leaving our best to be seen never more.
Leaving Lothlorian, lost now forever.
We shall be seen in these forests no more.

Destiny waits for the wise and the foolish:
Destiny binds us in ways we can’t see.
Take up the Ring and look into your future --
If you should fail this is what yet will be.

Far to the west is the land we are bound for;
Take up the quest, now, and do as you swore.
All we have made is the price of your future.
We shall be seen in these forests no more.

Call me Galadriel, wise as the morning,
Fairest of elf-maidens, bright as the sky.
This is my kingdom, the trees of Lothlorian...
This is the hour that we leave them to die.

Far to the west is the land we are bound for:
I pass the test, I’ll diminish and go.
Call me Galadriel, Lady of Forests:
I shall be seen in these forests no more.

Call me Galadriel, last of the elf queens,
Watching the world change -- as worlds always do.
Elves will be legends of wind and of starlight...
All of our futures are leaving with you.

Far to the west is the land we are bound for:
I pass the test, I’ll diminish and go.
Call me Galadriel, Lady of Sorrows.
I shall be seen in these forests...

We shall be seen in these forests...
Elves shall be seen in these forests...
...no more.

Galadriel's Lament is (c) Seanan McGuire