The Queen Comes To The Mountain by Lyra

The Queen Comes To The Mountain

I have come to the Mountain to pray.
Not for myself; there is no hope in that.
The Mountain groans and quakes, as if to say
Away, away. Too late. I cannot run.

I am the Queen. My duty is my land,
My people, and for them I raise my hands
Unto the leaden Heavens, and my voice
Unto the One: All-father, hear my prayer!

The Mountain shakes and trembles, and the air
Is stifling hot and smelling of foul fumes.
It will not carry prayers far, I fear.
But I must speak and pray, while there is time.

I am the Queen. I know I'll be remembered
By my mistakes, by what I could not do.
My loves, my work, my people and my faith:
All turned, or turning, into dust and ash.

I loved the King. I married him for love.
I thought that we, drunk on young love like wine,
Would reconcile the old ways and the new.
Alas, he tasted of a stronger vintage.

I loved my country, sought to rule it well,
to end our fathers' strife, and like a child
I thought that good intentions were enough.
There would be peace because I wanted it.

I loved my brethren, thought I could protect them
since I was of their faith, and also Queen.
I thought I had that power. I was wrong.
They burned, the Tree burned, now we all must burn.

We all must burn. The Mountain belches fire
and smoke. The end is coming. I can see
The sea receding to the black horizon.
It will return, no doubt, with greater force.

We all must burn, or drown. Now hear my prayer:
If end we must, then let the end be swift.
No drawn-out torments and no endless terror.
Let there be one short scream and one clean cut.

But if I, Míriel, may ask one favour,
Let some of us survive. Let them find peace.
Let them achieve redemption. Let them show
That we can be more than mere mortal minds.

Chapter End Notes

I am assuming that Tar-Míriel did not, as the Akallabêth claims, ascend to the Holy Mountain as the wave was already rolling in. We're told Meneltarma is actually erupting at the same time. You don't try to save yourself from a tsunami by running into oncoming lava. I trust that, if Tar-Míriel was on the Mountain at all, she went there (to escape Sauron, or to actually pray) before the actual cataclysm began.
What does the chronicler know, anyway? They obviously escaped on Elendil's ships, so they can't actually know what happened to the Queen.

As you probably figured out, I'm following the earlier version where Tar-Míriel married Ar-Pharazôn willingly and out of love. It gives her much more agency.