Tolkien’s poetry: a general evaluation

Given the value of fantasy and fantastic poetry, the question, becomes whether or not Tolkien's poetry in particular is worth studying and explicating. Certainly, his poetry has been often criticized. Edmund Wilson, Alan Bold, Catherine Stimson, and L. Sprague de Camp have all criticized his poetry as amateurish, contrived, inferior, and pedestrian (Rawls 4). However it has also received its share of accolades. Randel Helms, Edmund Fuller, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Paul Edwin Zimmer all praise his poetry to one extent or another (Rawls 4; Zimmer; LeGuin "Rhythmic"). Rosebury offers a backhanded compliment:

It is only within, and in subservience to, the fiction that the verse achieves complete effectiveness. Most of Tolkien's best verse [. . .] is in the songs and rhymes of The Lord of the Rings itself. [. . .] they are, nevertheless, a second order achievement. [. . .] The outstanding feature of the verse in The Lord of the Rings is the individuation of poetic styles to suit the expressive needs of a given character or narrative moment. (106-107)

George Sayer, English Master at Malvern college, Oxford, called Tolkien the "greatest living poet," while C. S. Lewis called his verse "poor, regrettable, and out of place" (Tolkien Letters 168-69). The opinions on both sides of the issue continue to pile up, and that, in itself, may be a reason to study his poetry further. Rarely does one find a poet whose worth is so hotly contested. A second reason is the popularity of his verse. Fans are reading and memorizing his poetry, and they can only benefit from a deeper understanding of it (Zimmer 22).

What is so great about Tolkien's poetry? It is, first of all, pleasurable to read, precisely because of the meter, alliteration, and rhyming tricks that are pooh-poohed by his critics. Ursula K. LeGuin notes: "His verse often shows extraordinary intricacy of meter, alliteration, and rhyme, yet is easy and fluent [to read]" ("Rhythmic" 102). Tolkien himself explained his reasoning for certain esoteric word choices: "As for plenilune and argent, they are beautiful words before they are understood [. . .] and how is one to know them till one does meet them" (310). I agree with Zimmer who suggests that much of the disaffection with Tolkien's poetry is caused by the failure of his critics to read the poems aloud (Zimmer 17). Tolkien's poetry is beautiful, and many an evening in my house has been enjoyably spent reading aloud his wonderful cadences, without any regard whatsoever for the meanings of his poems. That is not to say, however, that meaning is not there. That there is a deeper meaning to Tolkien's writings is confirmed by the author's own words: "I would claim [. . .] to have as one object the elucidation of truth, and the encouragement of good morals in this real world, by the ancient device of exemplifying them in unfamiliar embodiments, that may tend to 'bring them home'" (Letters194). Clearly, we must look beyond their sometimes fanciful forms for the "truth" and "morals." In looking at Tolkien's poetry, I try to note both the intricacies of form that make his work such an aural pleasure, and the intrinsic truths that even his most flighty and fanciful narrative verse convey. To exemplify this method and to begin the process of exposition, I will examine Tolkien's "Errantry." More poems will be added as time permits. Feel free to submit your own expositions of poetry whether already treated here or not. As long as they are scholarly, I will include them.