Seledreamas

'It would be to terribly deceive oneself to think that the war has come to an end. Yes, the canons have gone silent and the bombers no longer speed through the air, but yet the war goes on, and the future will bring a still worse conflict which will surely send thousands to their graves before there is any peace, that is to say before people come to a common understanding and to really working together for the wellbeing of all. This will only be possible if that by which people act comes from a spirit of change and, namely, from that fundamental maxim: love your neighbor as yourself.'

'Where is the horse? Where the rider? Where has the giftgiver gone? Where are the seats of the feast? Where are the wonders of the hall? Alas, the bright cup! Alas, the mailed warrior! Alas, the glory of the lord! How that time has passed away, dark under nightcover, as if it never were.'

-- The Wanderer (Eardstapa), lines 92a-96b, from the Exeter Book. This poem served as the inspiration for Tolkien's Lament of the Rohirrim, as published in The Two Towers, "The King of the Golden Hall":

"Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing? Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing? Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow; The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning, Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?"