I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen,
Of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see.

For still there are so many things that I have never seen;
in every wood in every spring there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago,
and people who will see a world that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet and voices at the door.

J R R Tolkien (1892 − 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist and university professor, who is best known as the author of the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

1. gossamer : fine cobwebs spun by small spiders