Bilbo's Last Song (at the Grey Havens) is a poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, published as a short book as of 1990.
Text[]
Day is ended, dim my eyes,
but journey long before me lies.
Farewell, friends! I hear the call.
The ship's beside the stony wall.
Foam is white and waves are grey;
beyond the sunset leads my way.
Foam is salt, the wind is free;
I hear the rising of the Sea.
Farewell, friends! The sails are set,
the wind is east, the moorings fret.
Shadows long before me lie,
beneath the ever-bending sky,
but islands lie behind the Sun
that I shall raise ere all is done;
lands there are to west of West,
where night is quiet and sleep is rest.
Guided by the Lonely Star,
beyond the utmost harbour-bar
I'll find the havens fair and free,
and beaches of the Starlit Sea.
Ship, my ship! I seek the West,
and fields and mountains ever blest.
Farewell to Middle-earth at last.
I see the Star above your mast!
History[]
Bilbo's Last Song was given by Tolkien as a gift to his secretary Joy Hill in 1966. After Tolkien's death in 1973, Hill showed the poem to Donald Swann, who liked the poem so much that he set it to music and included it in the second edition of The Road Goes Ever On in 1978.[citation needed] The poem was also illustrated by Pauline Baynes, and published as a poster in 1974. In 1990, the text was finally published in book form, re-illustrated by Baynes.[1] Its original publisher was Houghton Mifflin, then Allen & Unwin in 1992, and then by Dragonfly Books in 1992.[2] and a few others like Riverwood Publishing Inc.[3]
Bilbo Baggins sings the poem at the harbour of the Grey Havens[4], as he is about to set sail on the sea following the Straight Road to the Undying Lands. Although it was never written in The Grey Havens, The Lord of the Rings' last chapter, this places the reading of this poem by Bilbo at this point in the story.
The song is included in the BBC's 1981 radio version of The Lord of the Rings, with the music performed by Stephen Oliver. John Le Mesurier, who plays Bilbo[5] chants the first verse but not the second verse, and the third verse was sung by a boy in soprano.[citation needed]
There is no reference to the song in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). The film's distributor, New Line Cinema, was probably not licensed to use the poem as necessitated by the applicable copyright laws. The movie's closing credits are accompanied by the original song "Into the West", sung by Annie Lennox, meant to have similar emotional resonance.
Trivia[]
Notably, the original version of the poem presented to Joy Hill ends with the words "your mast", whereas in Pauline Baynes' illustrated poster, it instead ends with the words "my mast". This could be an error on Baynes' part.
References[]
External link[]
- Bilbo's Last Song Text of the poem Bilbo's Last Song a link to text at tolkien.cro.net
Translations[]
Foreign Language | Translated name |
Afrikaans | Bilbo se laaste liedjiee |
Albanian | Kënga e Fundit e Bilbos |
Amharic | ቢልቦ የመጨረሻው ዘፈን |
Arabic | أغنية بيلبو الأخيرة |
Armenian | Բիլբո-ի վերջին երգը |
Azerbaijani | Bilboın Son Şarkısı |
Belarusian Cyrillic | Більба Апошняя песня |
Bengali | বিল্ব এর শেষ গান |
Bosnian | Bilbova posljednja pjesma |
Bulgarian Cyrillic | Последната песен на Билбо |
Catalan | Cançó darrera de Bilbo |
Chinese | 比尔博的最后一首歌 |
Croatian | Bilbova posljednja pjesma |
Czech | Poslední píseň Bilbo |
Danish | Bilbos sidste sang |
Dutch | Bilbo's Laatste Lied |
Esperanto | La lasta kanto de Bilbo |
Estonian | Bilbo viimane laul |
Finnish | Bilbon viimeinen laulu |
French | La dernière chanson de Bilbon |
Frisian | Bilbo's Lêst Liet |
Galician | Última Canción de Bilbo |
Georgian | ბილბოს უკანასკნელი სიმღერა |
German | Bilbos Abschiedslied |
Greek | Το τελευταίο τραγούδι του Μπίλμπο |
Gujarati | બિલ્બોની છેલ્લી ગીત |
Hawaiian | Ke Mele hope loa o Bilbo |
Hebrew | השיר האחרון של בילבו |
Hindi | बिलबो का अंतिम गीत |
Hmong | Bilbo tag los zaj kwv txhiaj |
Hungarian | Bilbo utolsó dala |
Icelandic | Síðasta söngur Bilbo |
Indonesian | Lagu terakhir Bilbo's |
Irish Gaelic | An t-amhrán Deireanach de Bilbo |
Italian | L'ultima canzone di Bilbo |
Japanese | ビルボの最後の歌 |
Javanese | Lagu Terakhir Bilbo |
Kannada | ಬಿಲ್ಬೋನ ಕೊನೆಯ ಹಾಡು |
Kazakh | Билбоның соңғы әні (Cyrillic) Bïlbonıñ soñğı äni (Latin) |
Korean | 빌보의 마지막 노래 |
Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Билбао акыркы ыр |
Latvian | Bilbo pēdējā dziesma |
Lithuanian | Bilbo paskutinė daina |
Macedonian Cyrillic | Последната песна на Билбо |
Malaysian | Lagu terakhir Bilbo's |
Maltese | Bilbo-aħħar kanzunetta |
Mongolian Cyrillic | Билбогийн сүүлчийн дуу |
Nepalese | बिबोबोको अन्तिम गीत |
Norwegian | Bilbos siste sang |
Persian | آخرین آهنگ بیلبو |
Polish | Ostatnia piosenka Bilbo |
Portuguese | Última canção de Bilbo |
Punjabi | ਬਿਲਬੋ ਦੇ ਆਖਰੀ ਗੀਤ |
Romanian | Ultima melodie a lui Bilbo |
Russian | Последняя песня Бильбо |
Scottish Gaelic | An t-òran mu dheireadh aig Bilbo |
Serbian | Билбоова последња песма (Cyrillic) Bilboova poslednja pesma (Latin) |
Sindhi | بلبو جو آخري گيت ? |
Sinhalese | බිල්බො ගේ අවසාන ගීතය |
Slovak | Bilboovej Posledný Pieseň |
Slovenian | Bilbojeva zadnja pesem |
Somalian | Bilbo gabaygii ugu dambeeyay |
Spanish | La última canción de Bilbo |
Sundanese | Bilbo urang Song Tukang |
Swahili | Wimbo wa mwisho wa Bilbo |
Swedish | Bilbos sista sång |
Tajik Cyrillic | Суруди охирини Билбо |
Tamil | பில்வோவின் கடைசி பாடல் |
Telugu | బిలబో స్ చివరి సాంగ్ |
Thai | เพลงสุดท้ายของบิลโบ |
Turkish | Bilbo 'nun son şarkısı |
Ukrainian Cyrillic | Остання пісня Більбо |
Urdu | سروہی کی آخری گیت |
Uzbek | Билбо нинг сўнгги қўшиғи (Cyrillic) Bilbo ning so'nggi qo'shig'i (Latin) |
Vietnamese | Bilbo của bài hát cuối |
Welsh | Cân olaf Bilbo |
Yiddish | בילבאָ ס לעצט ליד |