Tears for the Fallen by pandemonium_213

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Fanwork Notes

MEFA10 Winner 1st Place Poetry Drama

Banner by Beruthiel's Cats.  Thanks, Cat! 

Melkor was more interested in and capable of dealing with a volcanic eruption, for example, than with (say) a tree. It is indeed probable that he was simply unaware of the minor or more delicate productions of Yavanna: such as small flowers.

~ JRR Tolkien in "From Myths Transformed", History of Middle-earth vol. X, Morgoth's Ring.

 

 

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Melkor considers a flower.  

Written for International Poetry Month, April 2010.

MEFA 2010.  Winner, First Place; Genres: Poetry: Drama.

 

Major Characters: Melkor

Major Relationships:

Genre: Poetry

Challenges: Duel of Songs

Rating: General

Warnings:

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 266
Posted on 6 April 2010 Updated on 6 April 2010

This fanwork is complete.

Tears for the Fallen

Read Tears for the Fallen

Summer snowflakes 

He rages against the West: 
Stone-hard wrath batters adamantine walls 
Piled high by the pleasance where
His kin dally and plot.
Wreathed round his brow
A hell-wrought storm fumes, 
But a breath of wind blows across the sky
Rending the wrack through which
Golden light glimmers and falls fair upon black boots. 
He stays his iron hand
And does not mend torn clouds
But lets Anar’s light play
Upon the tortured earth before him.

Bending with the might of mountains, 
He kneels and stares over the precipice of knees,
Where writhing in the ground before him
Green shoots struggle in shriveled soil, reaching for the Sun.
He watches and he listens, the first time in eons 
He has considered a thing so small.

The leaves unfurl in silence,
But soon they sing with faint melody 
Taking him back to the Origo 
That set all in motion.
To the Beginning: one spark that gave birth
To stars, to worlds and to him.
The leaf-song swells strong
Sipping jewels of light, gifts from Anar, 
Weaving the Sun into its substance,
Wheeling with the spiral dance of life.

He seizes the sorrow provoked by hopeful song,
Seeking its subjugation,
But his will cannot prevail
Against bitter loss.

One tear falls and then another; 
Across hardened cheeks they track.
Upon green growth the wretched dew falls,
And distilled regret makes fertile the fallow.
White bells bloom on the touch of his tears,
And he hears their chimes, 
Calling for him to come home.

He wavers, but shakes off weakness.
For is he not Melkor, true ruler of Arda, he who arises in might?
He crushes sweet flowers beneath one foul foot,
Ground back into the earth whence they came.

But hope does not die so easily.
After mountains tumble and seas devour,
And the earth is cleansed,
White bells bloom again in the spring: 

Tears for the fallen. 

Chapter End Notes

Thanks to Spiced Wine, Surgical Steel, Beruthiels_cats, Lilith Lessfair, Moreth, and Dawn_Felagund for comments. 

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One tear falls and then another; 
Across hardened cheeks they track.
Upon green growth the wretched dew falls,
And distilled regret makes fertile the fallow.
White bells bloom on the touch of his tears,
And he hears their chimes, 
Calling for him to come home.

I loved this; it is so Miltonesque, but it takes the right mind to spin forth the same idea-root and to infuse it with that level of mighty tragedy...

But hope does not die so easily.
After mountains tumble and seas devour,
And the earth is cleansed,
White bells bloom again in the spring: 

Tears for the fallen.

...And this poem does.

 

Thanks so much, Spice!  I really fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to poetry.  As you know, I love Paradise Lost and its themes, so there's bound to be a bit of Miltonian influence here. :^)   

Author's Response: Thanks so much, Spice!  I really fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to poetry.  As you know, I love Paradise Lost and its themes, so there's bound to be a bit of Miltonian influence here. :^)   

Lovely, if I may use that word. And yes, it does feel Miltonesque - the words sort of come to life and touch the same heartstrings that the poetry of Paradise Lost did for me.

Such a sad, poignant look at Melkor.. and, look, I never thought I'd ever say that. ;) I don't know much about the technicalities of poetry, but I know that this has moved me. Thank you for sharing this. :)

And thank you for your kind words, Klose!  I'm glad this worked for you.  As I've told others, I have no intention of trying to imitate Milton (a more daunting task than mimicking JRRT IMO), but his themes certainly influence me.  Plus I love alliterative verse even though I have no idea what I am doing with it.  I just go by instinct.  

My take is that a great villain can be both evil and tragic so I'm gratified that you think I captured it here. 

Thanks so much, IgB!  Yes, there is always hope, and with hope, we are also so often presented with choices.  The themes of fate and free will in Tolkien's writings are so powerful in his legendarium.  I probably come down more solidly on the free will side of the balance than fate or doom, and so I see his villains as being continually confronted with choices throughout their heinous careers, rather than just once.

Thanks again!  I'm glad this worked for you! 

Thanks so much, Ithilwen.   That particular passage from "Myths Transformed" has always intrigued me so I thought I'd tweak the concept a bit.  And you hit right upon the theme: the fallen includes Morgoth's own marring as the result of his choices: free will plays a bigger role in the Pandë!verse than doom and fate.

In choosing the lily of the valley for your illustration, did you know that it in one tradition it is the flower that came from Eve’s tears after being cast out of the Garden of Eden? It also is a symbol for humility in religious paintings.

Your poetry is exquisite. I really appreciate the complexity you bring to Melkor.  By leaving him room for hope and choice you bind his character to the rest of humanity, as we also must deal with hope and choice.  Much more provocative and satisfying than the usual two one dimensional bad guy.

Thank you so very much, KyMahalei!  This was one that sprang from brain to keyboard, bypassing the LC in my haste, so I am happy that you found the poem and liked it.  The Pandë!verse puts a much stronger emphasis on free will and choices made than fate so I am glad that comes across as does the fundamental ties of Melkor to humanity.

I wasn't aware that the lily of the valley was symbolic of Eve's tears!  And for humility!  I clumsily stumbled across fitting symbolism :^).  I'm such a scientist though.  My first thought when I see lilies of the valley is how wonderful their fragrance is.  The next is the complex (and highly toxic) array of cardiac glycosides they contain.  Hmmm. Maybe some more symbolism there but from a different angle:  the attraction that Melkor held for Man and his ultimately toxic nature. 

Thanks again! 

Thanks muchly, 'Scribe.  This poem evolved while I was taking a walk last spring and spotted similar white flowers.  It seems to me that Tolkien's villains all made choices that led them to evil paths rather than being fated to march into darkness.  I tend to think that these choices might come back to haunt them now and again.

Here's my MEFA review for this lovely poem.

"Tears for the Fallen" captures a moment of possible redemption as the mighty Morgoth pauses in his destruction of the earth to contemplate a single flower illuminated by Anar's rays. He is suddenly taken back to the splendor and awe of creation and has a moment where he could choose a different path. [And he hears their chimes, Calling for him to come home.] Of course, his pride prevails and the flower is crushed under his boot. But in the end, it is the spark of creation that has the final word, even as they offer a tribute to that frail moment, characterized as "tears for the fallen."

The triumph of nature over the bleak landscape wrought by evil is a strong theme in Tolkien as embodied in the scene when the flowers twine upon the fallen King's brow at the Crossroads in Ithilien and Sam's glimpse through the smokes of the Black Land of the high and far off beauty of the stars. The poem also taps into those epic images of the fallen Lucifer as seen in Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's Inferno.

Pandemonium's language is as beautifully wrought as the flower that Morgoth contemplates. The photo of the lily of the valley adds a nice touch, especially since (as reviewer Kymahalei pointed out) lilies of the valley represent humility and surely it is a lack of that quality that causes Morgoth/Lucifer's downfall. This is a jewel of a poem on every level: characterization, theme, and word choice.

Cheers,

~elfscribe

OMG I totally forgot about reviewing your things, and I noticed you updated 'The Writhen Pool', but I'd rather stick to my original plan of commenting on the stories in chronological order, hope you don't mind. :)

Anyway... awesome, amazing, wonderful, marvellous, fantastic poem, Pandë! I confess I went "awww" when Melkor started crying... you almost made me want to hug him there! Sheesh, he had a near moment of redemption, but nooo...
Actually, the fact that you write him as having free will is great, because the way I see it... If Melkor never had a choice, is he still evil? But then, does absence of free will mean absence of moral responsibility? Yeah, this is stuff that threatens to break my brain and boils my blood.
Melkor, I have one thing to say to you: look at your life, look at your choices. (couldn't resist :D)

Thanks so much, Khaosity, and my apologies for the late response (though my appreciation of your review has not diminished in any way, shape or form).  As you know, I favor villains that have shades of grey, even Tolkien's "Diabolus."  I'm thinking a bit of Milton's Lucifer in Tears for the Fallen, but not comparing (AT ALL) my feeble verses to Milton's masterwork.  

I know Tolkien scholars have written extensively (and analyzed exhaustively) of fate and free will in Tolkien's work, but as a fan fic writer who doesn't hold much with fate, it's all about free will and choice...and consequences thereof.

Thanks again! :^)