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Hobbit Poems


Dwarf Song


Chip the glasses and crack the plates!

Blunt the knives and bend the forks!

That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates –

Smash the bottles and burn the corks!


Cut the cloth and tread on the fat!

Pour the milk on the pantry floor!

Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!

Splash the wine on every door!


Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl;

Pound them up with a thumping pole;

And when you’ve finished, if any are whole,

Send them down the hall to roll!


That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates!

So, carefully! Carefully with the plates! Top


Dwarf Song of Treasure


Far over the misty mountains cold

To dungeons deep and caverns old

We must away ere break of day

To seek the pale enchanted gold.


The dwarves of yore made mighty spells

While hammers fell like ringing bells

In places deep, where dark things sleep,

In hollow halls beneath the fells


For ancient king and elvish lord

There many a gleaming golden hoard

They shaped and wrought, and light they caught

To hide in gems on hilt of sword.


On sliver necklaces they strung

The flowering stars, on crowns they hung

The dragon-fire, in twisted wire

They meshed the light of moon and sun.


Far over the misty mountains cold

To dungeons deep and caverns old

We must away ere break of day

To claim out long-forgotten gold.


Goblets they carved there for themselves

And harps of gold; where no man delves

There lay they long, and many a song

Was sung unheard by men or elves.


The pines were roaring on the height,

The winds were moaning in the night.

The fire was red, it flaming spread;

The trees like torches blazed with light.


The bells were ringing in the dale

And men looked up with faces pale;

Then dragon’s ire more fierce than fire

Laid low their towers and houses frail.


The mountain smoked beneath the moon;

The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom.

They fled their hall to dying fall

Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.


Far over the misty mountains cold

To dungeons deep and caverns old

We must away ere break of day

To win out harps and gold from him! Top


O! What are You Doing?


O! What are you doing,

And where are you going?

Your ponies need shoeing!

The river is flowing!

O! tra-la-la-lally

Here down in the valley!


O! what are you seeking,

And where are you making?

The faggots are reeking,

The bannocks are baking!

O! tril-lil-lil-lolly

The valley is jolly,

Ha! ha!


O! where are you going

with beards all a-wagging?

No knowing, no knowing,

What brings Mister Baggins

And Balin and Dwalin

Down into the valley in June

Ha! Ha!


O! will you be staying

Or will you be flying?

Your ponies are straying!

The daylight is dying!

To fly would be folly,

To stay would be jolly

And listen and hark

Till the end of the dark

To our tune

Ha! Ha! Top


Goblin's Song for Prisoners


Clap! Snap! the black crack!

Grip, grab! Pinch, nab!

And down down to Goblin-town

You go, my lad!

Clash, crash! Crush, smash!

Hammer and tongs! Knocker and gongs!

Pound, pound, far underground!

Ho, ho, my lad!

Swish, smack! Whip crack!

Batter and beat! Yammer and bleat!

Work, work! Nor dare to shirk,

While Goblins quaff, and Goblins laugh,

Round and round far underground

Below, my lad! Top


Goblin Song


Fifteen birds in five fir-trees,

Their feathers were fanned in a fiery breeze!

But, funny little birds, they had no wings!

O what shall we do with the funny little things?

Roast ‘em alive, or stew them in a pot;

Fry them, boil them and eat them hot?


Burn, burn tree and fern!

Shrivel and scorch! A fizzling torch

To light the night for our delight,

Ya hey!


Bake and toast ‘em, fry and roast ‘em!

Till beards blaze, and eyes glaze;

Till hair smells and skins crack,

Fat melts, and bones black

In cinders lie

Beneath the sky!

So dwarves shall die,

And light the night for our delight!

Ya hey!

Ya-harri-hey!

Ya hoy! Top


The wind was on the withered heath


The wind was on the withered heath,

But in the forest stirred no leaf:

There shadows lay by night and day,

And dark things silent crept beneath.


The wind came down from mountains cold,

And like a tide it roared and rolled;

The branches groaned, the forest moaned,

And leaves were laid upon the mould.


The wind went on from West to East;

All movement in the forest ceased,

But shrill and harsh across the marsh

Its whistling voices were released.


The grasses hissed, the tassels bent,

The reeds were rattling – on it went

O’er shaken pool under heavens cool

Where racing clouds were torn and rent.


It passed the lonely Mountain bare

And swept above the dragon’s lair:

There black and dark lay boulders stark

And flying smoke was in the air.


It left the world and took its flight

Over the wide seas of the night.

The moon set sail upon the gale,

And stars were fanned to leaping light. Top


Bilbo's Teasing Song


Old fat spider spinning in a tree!

Old fat spider can't see me!

Attercop! Attercop!

Won't you stop,

Stop your spinning and look at me!

Old Tomnoddy, all big body,

Old Tomnoddy can't spy me!

Attercop! Attercop!

Down you drop!

You'll never catch me up your tree!


Lazy Lob and crazy Cob

are weaving webs to wind me.

I am far more sweet than other meat,

but still they cannot find me!

Here am I, naughty little fly;

you are fat and lazy.

You cannot trap me, though you try,

in your cobwebs crazy. Top


Forest Elves Song


Roll-roll-roll-roll

Roll-roll-rolling down the hole!

Heave ho! Splash plump!

Down they go, down they bump!

Down the swift dark stream you go

Back to lands you once did know!

Leave the halls and caverns deep,

Leave the northern mountains steep,

Where the forest wide and dim

Stoops in shadow grey and grim!

Float beyond the world of trees

Out into the whispering breeze,

Past the rushes, past the reeds,

Past the marsh’s waving weeds,

Through the mist that riseth white

Up from mere and pool at night!

Follow, follow stars that leap

Up the heavens cold and steep;

Turn when dawn comes over land,

Over rapid, over sand,

South away! And South away!

Seek the sunlight and the day,

Back to pasture, back to mead,

Where the kine and oxen feed!

Back to gardens on the hills

Where the berry swells and fills

Under sunlight, under day!

South away! And South away!

Down the swift dark stream you go

Back to lands you once did know! Top


The King beneath the mountains

 
The King beneath the mountains,

The King of carven stone,

The lord of silver fountains

Shall come into his own!


His crown shall be upholden,

His harp shall be restrung,

His halls shall echo golden

To songs of yore re-sung.


The woods shall wave on mountains

And grass beneath the sun;

His wealth shall flow in fountains

And rivers golden run.


The streams shall run in gladness,

The lakes shall shine and burn,

All sorrow fail and sadness

At the Mountain-king’s return! Top


Under the Mountain dark and tall

 
Under the Mountain dark and tall

The King has come into his hall!

His foe is dead, the Worm of Dread,

And ever so his foes shall fall.


The sword is sharp, the spear is long,

The arrow swift, the Gate is strong;

The heart is bold that looks on gold;

The dwarves no more shall suffer wrong.
 

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells

While hammers fell like ringing bells

In places deep, where dark things sleep,

In hollow halls beneath the fells


On sliver necklaces they strung

The flowering stars, on crowns they hung

The dragon-fire, in twisted wire

The melody of harps they wrung.


The mountain throne once more is freed!

O! wandering folk, the summons heed!

Come haste! Come haste! Across the waste!

The king of friend and kin has need.


Now call we over mountains cold,

“come back unto the caverns old!”

here at the Gates the king awaits,

his hands are rich with gems and gold.
 

The king is come into his hall

Under the Mountain dark and tall.

The Worm of Dread is slain and dead,

And ever so our foes shall fall! Top


Elves sing of the dragon

 
The dragon is withered,

His bones are now crumbled;

His armour is shivered,

His splendour is humbled!

Though sword shall be rusted,

And throne and crown perish

With strength that men trusted

And wealth that they cherish,

Here grass is still growing,

And leaves are yet swinging,

The white water flowing,

And elves are yet singing

Come! Tra-la-la-lally!

Come back to the valley!


The stars are far brighter

Than gems without measure,

The moon is far whiter

Than silver in treasure:

The fire is more shining

On hearth in the gloaming

Than gold won by mining,

So why go a-roaming?

O! Tra-la-la-lally!

Come back to the valley!


O! Where are you going,

So late in returning?

The river is flowing,

The stars are all burning!

O! whither so laden,

So sad and so dreary?

Here elf and elf-maiden

Now welcome the weary

With Tra-la-la-lally!

Come back to the valley!

Tra-la-la-lally

Fa-la-la-lally

Fa-la! Top


Sing all ye joyful


Sing all ye joyful, now sing all together!

The wind’s in the tree-top, the wind’s in the heather;

The stars are in blossom, the moon is in flower,

And bright are the windows of Night in her tower.


Dance all ye joyful, now dance all together!

Soft is the grass, and let foot be like feather!

The river is silver, the shadows are fleeting;

Merry is May-time, and merry our meeting.


Sing we now softly, and dreams let us weave him!

Wind him in slumber and there let us leave him!

The wanderer sleepeth. Now soft be his pillow!

Lullaby! Lullaby! Alder and willow!


Sigh no more Pine, till the wind of the morn!

Fall Moon! Dark be the land!

Hush! Hush! Oak, Ash and Thorn!

Hushed be all water, till dawn is at hand! Top


Roads go ever on

 
Roads go ever on,

Over rock and under tree,

By caves where never sun had shone,

By streams that never find the sea;

Over snow by winter sown,

And through the merry flowers of June,

Over grass and over stone,

And under mountains in the moon.


Roads go ever on

Under cloud and under star,

Yet feet that wandering have gone

Turn at last to home afar.

Eyes that fire and sword have seen

And horror in the halls of stone

Look at last at meadows green

And the trees and hills they long have known. Top