I.

Alas! Great Bow! That once in woods and fields
was terror of the orcs, and steadfast, strong;
against the armies dark a bitter shield
that in his life could ne’er commit a wrong.
But lost he is, and lost I’ll ever be,
for he is gone now, never more to trod
this barren earth. And I shall never see
his faithful face, but bend beneath Doom’s rod.
And Belthronding, his faithful bow of yew,
That ne’er was wielded by a mightier hand,
that noble deeds would never cease to do:
in him was all the greatness of that land.
O Beleg! Beleg! Wilt thou not return?
The love thou gave me I have never earned.

II.

In you was all the good in me. You knew
all things about me, and your faithful heart
asked never for return; and always true,
even in death, as we are rent apart.

Forgive me now, my brother! Please forgive
the one who never did deserve your love.
My own life I would give you now to live,
if only I could. Naught that rules above
could make exchange of one life for anoth’r.
Thou dwellest now in Mandos’ shadowed halls,
Where I would come for thee, my dearest broth’r.
But I dwell now enchained, as one of thralls.

O Beleg! Beleg! Brother of my heart!
What life is left in me, when we’re apart?

III.

‘Neath Doriath’s boughs we dwelt in all my years
of childhood and of growing as a boy.
He was my hero, through my grief and tears
I wanted to be like him. He brought joy
to me in years of sorrow. I saw him
as idol, friend, and captain, and his face
beheld I with delight, a light in grim
sad days, when darkness was my dwelling place.
The greatest woodsman in all Middle-earth,
the truest friend of any that has lived,
the kindest spirit of the dark sea’s berth,
most gen’rous heart that any one could give.

O Beleg! Now my greatest friend hath fled,
I walk this dark earth as one of the dead.