Many members of the Order of the Istari have proven that wizards are no strangers to poetic skills.
The Music Mages and Poetry Potentates was the place for wizards and visitors to share their poems and songs. At the end of each thread, the participants would vote on the best poem but until now there has been no easy way to find these marvels. Please take a seat, make yourself comfortable and read through some of these examples.

By Mirluin Ererana

Shadow creeps to mind and heart
with oldest fear and mindless dread
When darkness lies upon the land
black as coal for moon has fled
Stars with mask of midnight clouds
are lost to those that dare to tread
the empty field and barren roads
and voyage through that sea of dread

The mind awakes with vision lost
Sharp and clear the sounds of night
Spirits ride wind that brushes flesh
And whisper songs of dreadful plight
Breath is stolen when cold hard band
is laid on chest and presses tight
The heart drums faster, pounding hard
Thoughts arise; to run, to fight

But then as saviour from the East
to banish terror and darkness slay
Light glows soft from heaven’s vault
a call to heed the break of day
Mother Earth takes up the cry as
colors rise from shadows gray
Birds announce in joyous song
Light has come! Dark fly away!

Fairest maiden with crown of gold
Our hearts uplifted in your sight
Oh Morning Glorious, lovely dawn
We sing to you and blessed light

 

A SENSELESS SEA
By Dumenelion

How do you explain the sea
To the blind man ?
One who cannot see the sea
Though you can

He feels the wetness
Tastes the spray
He will never see
The waves at play
Undulating their burlesque bumps
See-sawing like camel humps
The surf’s miasmic pattern
It’s kaleidoscopic whirl 
As it shatters against the sea wall
In a cappuccino swirl
Cascading white steeds
Frothing at their brow
at Ulmo’s command
They curtsey and bow

He is blind to the the world
I deaf to it’s plea
Together in the same boat
Alone
All at sea

Aldarion and Erendis
By Mirluin Ererana

A maiden once lived in Numenor fair
with clear grey eyes and long dark hair
Slender in form and strong in her heart
Among the sweet flowers she stood yet apart
This lady in Armenelos went to reside
And often was found by the Queen’s side
So she met Aldarion, Prince of the land
And loved him at once, just as the Queen planned
Thus Erendis was caught in fate’s clever dance
and started down tragic road of romance

For Aldarion was a mariner, called by the Sea
but Erendis was only at peace under tree
Yet fate held them fast, wedding vows were spoken
and for six years they did live until yearning awoken
To Aldarion the Sea again called him to roam
Over the waves to venture far from his home
Anger and pride turned cold Erendis’ heart
Then taking their child she did quickly depart
Turning from joy she set loose Elven-Birds
In their sad house no laughter was heard

Though two years was the time that Aldarion set
Twas five ere he came yet was not full of regret
Pride stood between the husband and wife
And neither would bend to end bitter strife
Then King called Erendis and daughter to come
and dwell in Armenelos and there to welcome
But Erendis would not, and sent Ancalime alone
For the Lady’s will and heart turned to stone
So ever from then the two lived always apart
And in Ancalime did Erendis a coldness impart

In time the daughter was named the next Heir
The first woman to rule over Numenor fair
Willful, clever, and malicious was she
Refusing to wed, she would live her life free
But throne was denied until husband was found
So wed she to Hallacar so she might be crowned
She bore him a son, though no joy came of this
She grew cold to her husband just as Erendis
From Anarion came Kings full of envy and greed
Thus the Glory of Numenor did slowly recede

 

By Grey Pilgrim

From dawnbreak until twilight and the dark hours inbetween,
See the everchanging beauty, not just watercolour scenes.
Don’t pause to press the elanor swaying in the breeze,
Leave the acorn where it lies and watch the growth of trees.
Remember every smile and the embrace of a friend,
Feel Anar’s warmth on your face; the crisp snow of year’s end.
Follow your wisdom, obey instinct; Open your eyes wide.
Trust your heart, take every chance and know the Valar’s pride.
Savour every moment of Arda that you can,
Eventually Istari weary of strife, their bodies mortal as man.

 - Black -
By Blinded

Black,
as the pain that pierces me like a scorching spear,
shutting out everything else, paralyzing my body and mind.
Breathless I wait for the fire to fade, for a moment releasing my tortured body,
until it comes back to strike me again and again.

Black,
as the sorrow for being trapped in a cage that is my body,
held hostage by an enemy who is slowly breaking my spirit down.
I’m feeling the emptiness taking command, I no longer have a will of my own.
My eyes are blinded by the silent tears wetting my cheeks.

Black,
as the exhaustion that threatens my very existence with its cunning malice,
breaking down my defences and enslaving my spirit, my thoughts, my will.
My limbs do not obey when I plead them to move, I have become a living dead.
My eyes have not the strength to blink but are ever moistened by my tears.

Black,
as the loneliness that surrounds me as I slowly diminish into the void,
no one is here to hold me and I have not the strength to reach out my hand.
Darkness surrounds me and I’m lost in a vacuum that is ever growing.
I live in an alternative universe where all that exists is pain and sorrow.

Black,
as the fear that strangles my throat and holds my heart in an iron grip,
ever present it fills me with despair for I am not sure how long I can fight.
I fear that I will drown in the pain and the apathy and never be able to breathe again,
and most of all I fear that I shall fail and be defeated by my enemy.

My Love
By Pallador

The days are long without her;
I count the hours, the minutes creep,
The seconds have no end.
And yet, when I am with her again,
’Tis but a moment, then evening’s gone;
All is done, I am alone
And back I go to my lonely room.

To sleep,  to hold her, smiling, in my dreams,
And yes, to dream, and hold her still;
She looks at me and laughs
And I am gone from the world
In a space alone with her.

Then I awake, twas but a dream.
I rise to face the day alone,
Until we meet.
Then evening’s done
And once again I am alone.

The fairy’s pursuit
By Maiarian Man

Walking into the waking of a summer day,
the sun rising with a fresh-born vivacity,
the flowers smiling with the ethereality
of finely aged wine, I espied a fay
of irresistible inescation.

With subtle lips of crimson expressivity,
she serenaded my soul, inescapably
beckoning unto my heart’s belation.

She ferried me away to a her elven wood,
as she danced deeper into the exotic trees,
laughing as she slyly let her per’lous eyes freeze
upon mine for a heav’nly moment. I withstood
not her pretension of girlish shyness.

My young heart burned at ninety-nine times the degrees
of the sun, surely submitting to the fairy’s
facade: my hunt of her was restraintless.

I found my nymphic maid lying at a sylvan stream,
playing on her dulcimer a spritely sounding
melody, as e’er before she sang enchanting
lays, which lulled me to her side. Her fair eyes, agleam
with passionate lustre entranced my own.

In wordless converse, we laid for hours unending,
into each other’s hearts eternally delving;
but how such dreams end is to me unknown.

Beauty in Vain
By Oloronya

I’d cherish every moment of suspense, when night winds cease at dawn,
exhaled, and nature waits for new breath being drawn,
when gold touches the shimmering snow to flow as liquid light
into the shady crevasses to chase away the night.
The silence of the midday heat, athrobbing with the beat
of thousand thousand lives, with you I’d share;
the smell of longed for raindrops on dusty, parched soil
before the blue-grey boding battleships embroil
the thirsty earth with furious lashing rain.
I’d drink the beauty of the sun, falling as one slain,
when gold and grey burn up the sky in fiery conflagration.
I’d feel with you a sense of cleansing of the whole creation.
From dripping leave a drop   falls into mirrormere
fracturing the reflection   of the silver there
and trembling, reassembling into calm.
And as the blue and purple deepens, that your palm
in mine would tremble at the green and starry night
and side by side fly through the dreamland like a kite,
soaring above the silent earth towards ten thousand dawns.
Alas, the wind in my heart’s empty spaces moans
For all this beauty is in vain, without you there
With me to share.

Feel
By Fiddler

Feel:
White chalk
Through the wounds of the sky,
Waking up to a dream
No limit how high.
Find:
A line
In your deepest hole,
Faith in others,
Hope for the soul.
See:
Sunshine
In the dark places
No rainy days
In peoples faces.
Live:
With no more tears,
Life in days,
Not in years.
Cry:
For a strangers pain,
When nothing works,
If life is plain.
Feel,
Because if you don’t
You’ll never know how to deal.
Feel
Even if you can’t help
Feel!
Because it’s all that is real.

Glass
By Aleluya

Is the glass as my hate - aching for
You - and coming back to me
I shatter the whole sea - I do
Love you when I don’t - or even more.

Is the glass as my love - broken in
You - and leading far from me
I break the pathless sea - I do
Hate for you are not - within.

You are not the one - I break.
Are you not the one - I make
My soul for - my glassy truth shall be
Fate for your - lie without me.

Imagination
By Trillian

When I was young, without a care,
I would simply glance, stop, and stare
And gape at all the pretty things
Like people, flowers, clouds, and rings.
But now that I am getting older
I’ve found the world growing colder
For nothing seems to catch my eye
No matter how I try and try.
Nothing anymore seems fresh and new.
It’s simply a color like black or blue.
I want to go back and I wonder how
For I am stuck in the here and now.
I wonder how things might have been.
If I was now as I was then.
But maybe I won’t have to wonder long
For imagination can again grow strong
If you stop worrying about the grind
Open your heart and expand your mind
Relax beneath an old oak tree
And enjoy what is and what will be.