I came across this video on Tolkien via the always interesting Western Rifle Shooters.
In its brevity, the message of the video moved me. I felt a sting of loss. And thus, I felt compelled to write down how it affected me. It is but a poor rendering, and no doubt full of errors of all types. But I include it anyway as a humble offering from an illiterate man when compared to those who came before us.
Oh, to Serve a Lord
Oh, to serve a lord,
What glory would have been;
And love, to know unbridled zest,
for having a true part to play in the order of things.
These democracies ring hollow,
Our leaders are petty paupers of the soul;
And easily interchangeable,
once their shallow race is swum.
And glory we do not possess,
Not even in our dreams;
We cannot mourn that which we never had,
the greatest loss of all.
For if I served and lost a lord,
My grief would be real;
A thing that I could hold,
and cherish in my darkest times.
But in this grey world,
I lack that which never was;
A company of heroes,
arrayed around an empty throneless hall.
The throne replaced so long ago,
And in its place a hole;
My heart then exists,
in a state of never wakening.
What I would give for this,
I cannot know;
For to give, requires awareness,
of the true value of things.
I know that snow exists,
I have seen pictures and read books;
But having never seen or tasted,
it is to me an object of the mind.
Thus I am bound,
To waste away;
Never knowing, never seeing,
never serving, my own lord.
Originally published at Pushing Rubber Downhill. You can purchase Adam’s books here.
