This is a poem told from Glorfindel's point of view about the love between Elrond and his wife.
She passes a footbridge and glances behind her
In the air leaves are falling
Luminescent tranes of white creep after
Sun fades and night is falling
Quickly I draw back into the shadows
Needlessly I avoid her sight
She is not looking at me but behind
Glancing and beguiling her lover to follow
Her gown rustles in the fallen leaves
Silken tresses fall as her hair rains down
Unbound, feet unshod she walks lightly
My lord and lady do not see me
Too busy are they admiring one another
Enraptured by each other's eyes they stand
Enchanted, like statues of stone
I need not hide for they have eyes for none but each other
But I remain in the shadows veiled.
Rough hands I have known in battle
Deadly swords and lances to wield
A fiery heart and angry gaze
Are suddenly soothed away.
Hard arms rend themselves softer
Harsh glances are tenderly forsaken
The warrior is weakened by her loving eyes.
Here as the light is fading, secluded in this wood
All guise of court is forgotten, and they stand as they should
The lord and his lady, with her tiny hand in his
Not knowing that any eyes see them.
For the father, husband, and lover he is are truly revealed
The motherly tenderness, her wifely grace and youthfulness
All exposed in the open for the ethereal world to see.
Nakedness of soul and wonderful love that must lay hidden
For needless ceremonies, for endless tasks that rob them of time
For each other. For their hidden love that I know of.
For a love that all know, but are unable to express
For an openness that society bids them mask.
The leaves are falling as they did long ago
When gold they rained, not mortal red
Where her light shown in Elven-splendour
Undimmed, unfaded by the shadows of night
Do they known that time has passed them by?
Do they realize that they now wear their rings
And carry promises of eternity with them?Have they seen their sons and daughter play?
Do they know the leaves have changed and that they
Stand no longer in Lorien, unstained,
But in Imladris, and the years have slowly faded
Into night and nought?
Or are they still there, standing for the first time
With their hearts open for the other to read,
Renouncing the night, shadow, and dusk
Pledging their lives to each other?
Are they standing still in time when the leaves are falling,
Falling under the golden mallorn east of the Sea?
