Beneath the shadowed sun of once-fair Númenor
When Elendili lived but in Andúnië
The King's Men ever called them rebels, sought them more
To on the altars kill them for their Faithful way.
One King's Man named Imladan did by guile expose
What he then called a treas'nous plot against the King:
One night beneath the darkness 'ere the Sun arose
He caught a Faithful man for Morgoth's offering.
Outside the pris'ner's door he stood to guard the cell
Lest in escaping make Imladan pay instead;
And sang he Eru's praises though the hours fell
And soon to fiery execution he'd be led.
Imladan heard and wondered in his hardened heart
What strength of faith the Faithful martyrs truly had,
That he in such a time should by his song impart
In such a place what hope could make him truly glad.
And when Imladan led the pris'ner to his end
And saw he now the altar with its fire prepared
The man, before the flames could silence, cried, "Attend!
In death I trust the One alone whose love I shared!"
With such brave words Imladan's soul the Faithful drew
And 'ere the end he begged his pardon, seen by all;
Thus in his turn the priests of Morgoth also slew
And burned him as with faith he to the One did call.
So one man's witness in the hour of death may be
A saving grace to pierce the one who hears it raised,
For even hardest heart and blindest eyes may see
That One alone should worshipped be by men and praised.
A/N: Inspired by various stories of Christian martyrs (e.g. from Eusebius's Church History and Foxe's Book of Martyrs), this took me by surprise and forced me to write it. I hope it makes sense: there's some pronoun trouble of whom each "he" is referring to, but I think it's clear in the end. Blessings!
By the way, consider this phenomenon with me: a guest reviewer requests something else of Númenor, and voila! in a few days this appears! Behold the power of reviews! (Are you picking up what I'm laying down here?) Please, please drop a line and make this poet's day?