Her Eyelids Droop

I.

Canto I begins.

A king there was in days of old:
ere Men yet walked upon the mould
his power was reared in cavern's shade,
his hand was over glen and glade.

I read the words, and her eyelids droop. I turn my head to her and say loudly, "silver thrilled his trumpets long"! Her eyelids raise only a bit and then droop some more.

II.

Far in the North neath hills of stone
in caverns black there was a throne
by fires illumined underground,
that winds of ice with moaning sound
made flare and flicker in dark smoke;

So starts Canto II, contrasting Morgoth's throne to Thingol's.

I read the words, but her eyelids droop. I turn my head to her and say loudly, "The Northern land lay groaning neath his ghastly hand"! Her eyelids raise only a bit and then droop some more.

III.

When I read to her, her eyelids droop. There is nothing we can do about it. She sits on the couch with a blanket thrown across her lap and a dog curled up nearby. She sits and smiles and I start to read. But then it comes, that sleepiness, and her eyelids droop.

And there is nothing we can do about it.

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Lines from The Lay of Leithian in The History of Middle Earth, Volume III, The Lays of Beleriand, edited by Chistopher Tolkien.

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