Post date: Jan 27, 2014 10:16:5 AM
By Ponso Pondhopper
I’ve been away a little while;
I have ter say, I’ve missed you all.
I’ve trod them paths fer many a mile
Just followed me nose and blackbird’s call.
And if yer ask me where I’ve been,
‘Jus there and back again,’ I’d say’
And if yer ask me what I’ve seen,
‘The rising sun at break of day.’
For wandering is in me blood.
I’m not a stick-at-home, you see.
I love the Shire, that’s understood;
But there’s so much more I want to see.
Now fellow hobbits, please don’t judge
My reckless wanderings about.
I pray you all not to begrudge
This hobbit’s need to venture out.
For though the Shire is mighty fair,
There’s more beyond its borders, and
While other lands cannot compare
I hope that you will understand—
My need to see them for myself
Who knows what sights are o’er the plains?
Maybe a glimpse of nymph or elf
Among the greenwood’s leafy lanes?
’Tis folly—madness,’ folk may say
‘That Ponso’s cracked; he’s pixicated’
‘Addled, banjaxed, lost his way,’
‘Thank goodness that we’re not related!’
But friends, I hope you’ll understand;
It’s not madness leads my feet
Nor lack of love for our dear land;
No countryside could smell so sweet.
No, none of this but deeper still,
A need that drives me to depart
From time to time, across the hill;
That heats my brow and aches my heart.
‘Tis a need to find out more, you see,
A need to see what else is there.
A need to wander wide and free,
To go as far as you can dare.
That’s what drives me on my way.
Though some of you may disapprove,
From bleary dawn to end of day,
With stave in hand I’ll roam and rove.
But now I’m back, and full of tales
Ready for telling in song and rhyme.
I’ve missed my friends, the food and ales;
So I guess I’ll stay–until the next time!