The Fall of Gondolin

Part I -- Tuor

Predestined to become the hope
Of all in the drear time
The time when feast changed into tears
And grandness into slime

He went to the forbidden gate
Of Gondolin the great
To warn the king against the doom
Brought forth by pride and hate

Stranger from the Great Sea
From a far-off shore
Where the rocks have voices
And the waves are hoar
An obscure enigma
He will come at last
Speaking the deep language
Of a buried past

The vigour of the human race
Is gathered in his form
And he sounds like the symphony
Of waves after the storm

Stranger from the Great Sea
From a far-off shore
Where the rocks have voices
And the waves are hoar
An obscure enigma
He will come at last
Speaking the deep language
Of a buried past

Part II -- The Secret city

Nobody knows
What road will lead you there
Tales of something
That seems to be nowhere

A cherished secret
That the mountains screen
A guarded treasure
Never to be seen

In the valley the rivers sing
Light-winged legend carried by the wind
Fleeing flicker, immaterial sound
Hidden city, when will you be found?

The dazzling brightness
Of marble and of gold
Marvel of marvels
So hard to behold
End of the rainbow
Dreamed of from afar
Vanishing image
Of a falling star

Hopeless memory of a long-loved thing
Song of dead leaves floating in the wind
Apparition of a haunting ghost
Hidden city, found and lost