Use Well the Days (thanks to pegkerr)

[penmage]

Use Well the Days

Around the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though I have passed them by,
A day will come...
I will take the hidden paths that run
West of the moon, and East of the sun.
I'm glad that you are here with me,
Here at the end of all things.

Night, too, shall be beautiful,
And blessed, and its fear will pass.
I must leave, must cross this sea;
The love you gave is all I take with me.

Use well the days,
Use well the days...
Turn your face to the green world,
Use well the days.

Seven stars and seven stones
And one White Tree,
From all the sundered seas...

Use well the days,
Use well the days...
Turn your face to the green world.
Use well the days.


Use Well the Days, Annie Lennox.

Comments

[etoilepb.livejournal.com]

God, and I thought "Into the West" had me bawling at the end of the movie, if they'd used this I don't think I'd hav made it ouf of the theater.

It's amazing, really, the capacity Shore &co have demonstrated for taking songs that come across as lighthearted in the books and making them simply heartbreaking (Pip's song in Minas Tirith, this...). If I ever get my mp3 player working again, this is going on it. Thanks for the link.

Re:

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed! I've been listening to this nonstop for the last few hours. It's so powerful and beautiful. pegkerr has a really interesting post about the song, and well, using well the days, that also manages to sneak into the edge of my psyche as it plays and plays.

:Listens some more:

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, that's a great page. Thanks muchly... In fact, do you mind if I post it to my journal as well?

I recognize all the lines in the poem from off the top of my head. Almost all---ironically, the one I'm not sure of is "use well the days". Isn't that what Gandalf tells Aragorn after they find the tree?

*stops being a lazy slob and gets up to look*

No, at least not in that scene. Gah. Who? Where?

Re:

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

Found it. Galadriel says it to Elessar, at their last parting.

Makes sense. I knew it was something someone had said to the King, because the poem obviously addresses him...

Re:

[penmage.livejournal.com]

By all means post it. I'm glad to pass it on. I also recognized most of the lines. I believe Galadriel tells Aragorn "Use well the days" the last time they meet. Some of those lines give me chills.

pegkerr talks about the idea of well, using well the days, in an entry in her journal - now every time I hear the song, shades of that idea keep sneaking into my psyche. Use well the days, indeed.