I've collected a few poems over the years, and written a few myself, that are related to or inspired by Éowyn and Faramir. The poems by male authors are from a Faramir perspective, typically. And if you have any poems of your own you'd like to contribute (especially you guys out there who've decided to pick up the pen), email me.
Bright Star, Would I Were Steadfast as Thou Art
John Keats
Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art?
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient sleepless eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors;
No yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever?or else swoon to death.
Wondrous Moment
Alexander Pushkin
The wondrous moment of our meeting...
I well remember you appear
Before me like a vision fleeting,
A beauty's angel pure and clear.
In hopeless ennui surrounding
The worldly bustle, to my ear
For long your tender voice kept sounding,
For long in dreams came features dear.
Time passed. Unruly storms confounded
Old dreams, and I from year to year
Forgot how tender you had sounded,
Your heavenly features once so dear.
My backwoods days dragged slow and quiet
Dull fence around, dark vault above
Devoid of God and uninspired,
Devoid of tears, of fire, of love.
Sleep from my soul began retreating,
And here you once again appear
Before me like a vision fleeting,
A beauty's angel pure and clear.
In ecstasy the heart is beating,
Old joys for it anew revive;
Inspired and God-filled, it is greeting
The fire, and tears, and love alive.
Perhaps more appropriate for Aragorn and Arwen, but still lovely
She Walks in Beauty
George Gordon, Lord Byron
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
Of Pearls and Stars
Heinrich Heine
The pearly treasures of the sea,
The lights that spatter heaven above,
More precious than these wonders are
My heart-of-hearts filled with your love.
The ocean's power, the heavenly sights
Cannot outweigh a love filled heart.
And sparkling stars or glowing pearls
Pale as love flashes, beams and darts.
So, little, youthful maiden come
Into my ample, feverish heart
For heaven and earth and sea and sky
Do melt as love has melt my heart.
For some we loved
Omar Khayyam
For some we loved, the loveliest and the best
That from His vintage rolling Time hath pressed,
Have drunk the Cup a round or two before,
And one by one crept silently to rest.
Part Three: Love
Emily Dickinson
XLV
I've got an arrow here;
Loving the hand that sent it,
I the dart revere.
Fell, they will say, in skirmish
Vanquished, my soul will know,
By but a simple arrow
Sped by an archer's bow.
The Shield
by me
Were I the dream you tell
Or the end you near
Would I remain still?
Or would the high, white lands
Draw home my heart
To the anvil where was pressed
And hammered smooth
The shield that broke this arm
And kept my love cold?
Daughter of Kings
by Amy Buckles
Pale sun was striving against the night you'd known,
All fear slowly receding beneath the hands of kings,
When his eyes saw with pity the dark neglected throne,
Where you'd stood like a hooded falcon unmoved,
A white falcon knowing it dare not lift wings.
A winter-bourne lily, you were lovely but cold
A river swift, golden, washed down from the snows.
Your hands knew the sword, knew the bow to be pulled,
How to spill out the blood til the enemy's face,
Whiter than your own, felt the earth from your blows.
He felt of your trembling and knew you had fallen.
This heir of the king, stern, grey-cloaked and regal,
His eyes met your soul, then passed on to his calling,
No answering spark for your dry-tindered heart
No warmth for the falcon from the heart of an eagle.
You have watched him a-riding, a-riding away.
As a flower whose budding was touched by the frost
White robed, silver-girt with the winter's spring day
Your ungathered bloom lay unopened to the sun,
Your tears lay unshed as you grieved what you'd lost.
Do you still long for heights, do you still seek the sky
Where your wings cannot reach, and your breath is a cloud?
Will you ride seeking death turning aside your eyes
From the place in this world that is rightfully yours?
Firmly held inside, you would not cry unbound.
He is riding, a-riding, a-riding away.
To deadly darkness you would follow his lead,
On your own path of death: you have chosen your way
In deceit and despair, hard, tempered in pain,
What matter is death when souls no longer bleed?
You have broken the bars of your desolate cage,
By your hand would you shatter their power over you.
Jagged edges long sharpened by silence and rage
They will slash as you pass them, deathly to feel.
But what are wounds to the dead, never feeling anew?
Bright daughter of kings, fair maiden of Rohan
The blackness would find you before you'd know light.
White flower of winter, shining blade of the plains,
The enemy knew not the danger you posed,
For your heart was cold-darkened and ready to fight.
What is death to a warrior who is deadened inside,
This white falcon falling to earth from the heights?
When put to the test, from life there's no hiding,
You shone forth in glory, white golden and black,
As with valour you faced down the end of your flight.
With the courage of ice facing death's darkest fire,
Your blazing stood forth with great wrath at your loss:
A young maiden of Rohan and a child of the Shire.
No man by your side as you challenged this evil
With the aid of an other, also lonely and lost.
Spread forth your wings, and lift out of the night!
Sweet scented leaves join the voice of your brother.
Come out of despair and return to the light -
Your enemy is vanquished, your life is restored;
You wanted to die, but were spared for another.
And another will come, not an eagle of men,
But one who will share all your hopes and desires.
The sunlight is rising to touch you again,
To unfold your petals with a tender longing
And to soften your ice with his own gentle fires.
May 2003
Heart of a Warrior
by Rachel K.
A warrior, a caring maiden
Fair and flawless as the dawn
But destined for the night to fade in
Her blood and inner mind is drawn
At first sight she might have been
A helpless lady, fair yet grim
But if you remove her mask of fineness
You’ll see so much more than just mere kindness
A brave warrior, a fighter born!
Not just a pretty face to see
But keep in mind, her life is torn
Keeping her from what she needs to be
Look upon her now and see her soul
Not just her hair, her eyes or face
But deep within her remains a hole
It’s needed to fill up empty space
Stronger than most men there are
Eowyn of Rohan is there by far
Strong she is, and brave all along
She’s worthy a note or two in a song
So look upon the fair daughter of kings
And know that things aren’t the way they seem
Because beneath her paining heart
Lies a stunning warrior to part
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