Thinking of Boromir today

[linaewen]

It's February 26, and that brings Boromir to mind, of course -- it being the day upon which the Fellowship was broken and Boromir was lost.  In honor of the day, I prepared a series of found poems that seem to fit together; though they are from different parts of the trilogy, they carry a common theme.

I am quite fond of found poetry, since a friend at a LotR message board introduced me to it.  As she put it, "the essence of it is that you can find poetry anywhere.  When you compose found poetry using a piece of literature, it helps you develop an appreciation for the author's use of descriptive language and helps you develop your personal sense of poetic style."


Here's how to write found poetry using a piece of literature:

1. Select a portion from a book -- such as Tolkien's work.
2. Choose the sentences or phrases you find to be especially significant.
3. Edit the sentences so that you have at least ten lines and no more than fifteen. Lines cannot be longer than eight words.
4. The words must be left in the same order, but the sequence in which the phrases are used can be changed. Phrases may be repeated for emphasis.
5. Most importantly, you cannot add any of your own words, but words from the text can be eliminated. The end result will be poetry that you "found" in Tolkien's writing.

1.  

And here is what I came up with for the day, with portions taken from passages found in each of the volumes of LotR.  The passages where I found my poems are from "The Council of Elrond" in FotR, from "The Departure of Boromir" and"The Uruk-hai" in TTT, and from "Minas Tirith" in RotK.

Let All the Foes of Gondor Flee

A Series of Found Poems

I

He bore a long sword, and also a war-horn --
"Loud and clear it sounds in the valleys,
Then let all the foes of Gondor flee!"

He blew a blast, the echoes leapt.
From rock to rock, the echoes leapt,
All heard that voice, sprang to their feet.

"Slow should you be to wind horn again,
Until on the borders of your land
And dire need is on you."

"Maybe; but always I let my horn cry.
At setting forth, I let my horn cry,
And though we walk in shadows,
I go not forth as a thief."

II

Quick ears caught cries, the harsh voices of Orcs!
Then great horn blew, a deep-throated call;
The blasts smote the hills, echoed in hollows,
Rising, a mighty shout above roaring falls.

"The horn of Boromir!  He is in need!
Alas!  An ill fate on me this day."

Desperately the horn was blowing,
Fierce, shrill yells of Orcs -- suddenly horn-calls ceased.
Aragorn raced down, but the sounds died away;
He could hear them no more.

Not far from the lake, he found Boromir.
Many Orcs slain, piled about him;
Pierced with many arrows, sword still in hand
Broken at hilt, horn cloven in two --

Boromir did not speak again.

III

In Pippin's head, memory pieced itself together;
They had run a long way -- Orcs!
But the Orcs did not wish to fight,
Tried only to lay hold.

Boromir had come leaping; he made them fight!
Slew many, rest fled -- attacked again.
A hundred Orcs at least, some very large!
A rain of arrows: always at Boromir...

Boromir had blown his great horn;
The woods rang!  Orcs dismayed had drawn back.
But no answer but echoes came.
They attacked more fiercely; then darkness fell.

What has happened to Boromir?

IV

"You speak of his death; you had news?"
"I have this!  Upon the northern marches
I heard it blowing dim; River brought it."

He held up great horn cloven,
Wild-ox horn bound with silver, cloven through middle.
"Broken!  It will wind no more."

"Yes, I stood beside him;
He blew the horn, but no help came.
No help came, only more Orcs.

"Mightiest may be slain by one arrow;
Boromir was pierced by many.
I saw him no more, know no more --
But honor his memory!  He was very valiant.

"He died to save; though he fell, failed,
My gratitude is none the less."

V

"Loud and clear it sounds in the valleys,
Then let all the foes of Gondor flee!"

He blew a blast, the echoes leapt.
From rock to rock, the echoes leapt,
All heard that voice, sprang to their feet.

"Slow should you be to wind horn again,
Until on the borders of your land
And dire need is on you."

"Maybe; but always I let my horn cry.
At setting forth, I let my horn cry,
And though we walk in shadows,
I go not forth as a thief.

Thanks for reading!  I shall be back later to do some reading of my own in the journals of my friends.  Later, my dears!

ETA:  I had trouble with the cut text today, and that 1 in the middle there offends me, but I can't get rid of it without messing things up royally -- or deleting and starting over.  I think I'll just ignore it and go have lunch.

Comments

[meneleth.livejournal.com]

Thank you, thank you! Beautiful work (as always) and a perfect tribute to our favorite Gondorian. Alas! I can picture that scene all too clearly - Boromir protecting the Hobbits, blowing on his horn and no aid comes. *sigh*

And on a lighter note, when Candi, Meghan & I went to the Exhibit in Boston, Meg & I took "lembas" to place in the boat with him (after reading your tale of his hunger while playing dead for display). We wanted to kowtow and say "Oh Great Boromir, accept our humble offering", but with such a crowd (and so many guards) we never got the chance. *snicker*

[estellye.livejournal.com]

beautiful, my friend! Another excellent example of your found poetry. *wipes the tears for Boromir*

[siradaono.livejournal.com]

Remembering you this day

((((((lin4gondor)))))

[bageldelight.livejournal.com]

*sniffles*

*pets Boromir*

Hey! Those are my only clean sweats!!!!!

[rowantwig.livejournal.com]

Really really lovely!

But when Boromir tells Aragorn (that's him, right?) that he won't go forth as a thief, I take that as a dig at Aragorn, implying that Aragorn sneaks around unboldly (that's not a word but you know what I mean). Also I feel that "thief" is a direct dig at how he thinks Aragorn has claim to the throne, not through working for it as Boromir does. It kind of ruins that bit for me.

Maybe you can talk me out of that though?

[lin4gondor.livejournal.com]

Interesting idea! It could fit, even though Boromir's not speaking to Aragorn. He's actually talking to Elrond when he says that, in response to Elrond's chiding that he shouldn't have done the horn blowing; I couldn't include that much of the passage and still have it fit the rules for a found poem.

I've always taken that statement of Boromir's to be a proud response to someone telling him what he should or shouldn't do, and that he doesn't go for all this secrecy and traveling at night plan they have. In the full passage in the book, Elrond has just finished telling them they should travel under cover of night to avoid Sauron's spies. That's not really Boromir's style, he'd rather go openly to war.

I don't see it as a dig concerning Aragorn's claim to the throne, though again, it could fit. I bet Boromir did have some pretty grave doubts -- just as Denethor would. The point about him thinking Aragorn didn't qualify because he's not been working for it is valid, though. I suspect Boromir's waiting to see how Aragorn performs along the way before he makes any firm decisions concerning that claim.

Thanks for reading! These found poems make a person really look at the text, and sometimes things I've missed before jump out at me. I think it's time I had another trilogy read-through. ;-)

[rowantwig.livejournal.com]

Elrond, aha! He's more the chiding type than Aragorn I guess. I totally agree with you about the proud statement; I was just thinking it also was a statement against Aragorn too. Probably both, or just pride.

I love these found poems, and I love reading Tolkien this closely. :) Right now I'm listening to the Inglis cds as a way to fall asleep at night, which is just a weird experience . . . for the first ten minutes or so I'm digging in my heels being all upset that he's reading too quickly and I can't slow him down or re-read at all. Finally I relax and start to go with the flow, and soon I realize I can't remember how I got to the section I'm in, and then I know it's time to take the headphones off and fall asleep. :)

It's anti-reading really, or reading for hyponosis or something, but it's working. I just hope I'm not programming myself to fall asleep to LOTR all the time!