All constructive comments welcomed.
Author's Note: Had a persistent muse running around in my head so had to transfer it onto paper/screen. Basically, it's a poem dealing with Aragorn's thoughts along his journey towards his ascent to the throne. Tried a new take on the matter – his strength being as cumbersome as his weakness, the will to carry on being a contentious issue within his self. Hence, forgive me if my portrayal of him having some kind of split-personality disorder (especially the Gollum reference in the last stanza) is not to your liking. Just attempting to make him sound more… edain.
Disclaimer: The story and characters of The Lord of the Rings belong to JRR Tolkien. No monetary profit is gained this.
Weighed Down
Born of man yet elven-raised,
The merging of two lines,
The wisdom of two minds,
The strengths of double races weaved
Intricately into my soul.
Inbred valor breeds morality,
Attempts to right wrongs,
Attempts to strive on,
All while they ignore and deny the mortality
Of both the young and old.
The wretched things I have seen,
The screams I have heard,
The sour sicknesses like curd,
The pain that digs down where flesh had been
Makes me want to stop
Yet the fire-strength that flares hot in me
Heaps on worlds of tasks,
Throws on burdens so fast,
I cannot pause to breathe but he, always he,
Will not let me stop.
The proud fire that burns deep
Refuses feeling any hurt,
Opposes feeling any shirk,
It pushes stronger with every beat
Of my full-blooded heart.
Mere men would fall and crumble dead,
My poisons killing them,
My screams deafening them,
I stumble yet still the Numenorean raises his head
Within my veins.
My curse flows through me through my line
I have promises to keep,
Miles to go before I sleep,
I weary but darkness would not claim me in kind
Sympathy of escape.
If I had but one chance to yield I would gladly,
Trade off my pains,
Take off my stains,
Walk free and not be chained so tightly
To the inescapable.
I fear the weakness in my blood,
The weakness of my lineage,
The weakness of my heritage,
The shadow behind the grime and mud.
I fear too much.
They look to me for rekindled hope,
A bloodline restored,
A white flame re-stoked,
A crushing duty almost too much to cope
As it drags me down.
It is my destiny.
I never asked for it.
But it came to me.
It is mine.
My own.
My precious.
Only for me to bear.
And I weep, for I must do it alone.
Author's second note: Just to acknowledge a couple of things (avoiding touchy plagarism issues, heh) – the title is a song title from Jars of Clay, there's a rather obvious reference to a Robert Frost poem floating around, and the 'Gollum' lines are Tolkien's/Peter Jackson's. Cheers, hope you enjoyed it.