Rivendell, The Farm and Heaven

Farewell we call to hearth and hall!
Though wind may blow and rain may fall,
We must away ere the break of day
Far over wood and mountain tall.

To Rivendell, where Elves yet dwell
In glades beneath the misty fell,
Through moor and waste we ride in haste,
And wither then we cannot tell.

With foes ahead, behind us dread,
Beneath the sky shall be our bed,
Until at last our toil be passed,
Our journey done, our errand sped.

We must away! We must away!
We ride before the break of day!

In my musings about the Farm my thoughts have wandered to this poem. Perhaps the poem comes to mind because my dear child-hood friend, who also experienced the magic of the farm, described it as "the last homely house," a term used for Rivendell; A haven of rest on one's journey. Of course, one is tempted to think that a person's childhood home (if it is a good home) will always conjure up nostalgic feelings. But the Farm really is different. It's not just us kids that talk about the farm like that; our friends do too. And even more telling, our parents and their friends do too. It's a safe place; a happy place; a place of quiet and rest; a place of activity and work; a place of gathering, sharing, coming together. Sam captures it when he says:

"... we've been far and seen a deal, and yet I don't think we've found a better place than this. There's something of everything here, if you understand me: the Shire and the Golden Wood and Gondor and kings' houses and inns and meadows and mountains all mixed."

Though Rivendell is a haven of rest, the poem is actually about journeying - We must away! We must away! But the two go hand in hand. There is no homecoming without a journey; And a journey without a home to come to is actually being lost.

Now in all of these musings about saying goodbye to the Farm and recalling the happy memories and the part it's played in my life, the transience of earthly life has come to the foreground. All things pass away . . . except Love. "Now these three remain; Faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." Even though all passes around us - our loved ones, our homes, our health, our belongings - One remains ever constant. And this One, who is Love, is our home. Our sojourn on earth, our journey, ends at "The Last Homely House."

With foes ahead, behind us dread,
Beneath the sky shall be our bed,
Until at last our toil be passed,
Our journey done, our errand sped.

To Rivendell . . .