Rosalind Ramage

Rosalind Ramage refers to a poem written by J.R.R. Tolkien. The poem was "written for an American girl named Rosalind Ramage who had written Tolkien a fan letter in October 1964". Tolkien submitted the poem, together with "The Dragon's Visit" and "Once upon a Time", for publication in Winter's Tales for Children 1. Due to lack of space, only the two latter poems were included in the children's anthology. The facsimil of the letter with the poem was included in Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, but it remains properly unpublished.

Poem

One spring afternoon,
like a baloon
far Rosalind
was blown by the wind,
till she was high
up in the sky.
Then she looked down
and below saw a town:
very small, very grey
among green it lay.
"What can that be,
I wonder?", said she.
"No use at all
for hobbits, too small
for the tiniest gnomes
if they wanted homes
up above ground".
She heard then a sound
from far under of bells.
"Why, that must be Wells
where the funny cloch chimy
and at meat-times
the swans come and hug!
What a good thing,
at least I now know
where I am! I must go.
It's time for my tea.
But, O deary me,
how shall I get there
without ladder or stair?"
"You'll never be missed!"
the cold wind hissed.
Only his joke,
for just as he spoke
he let her gently go,
fluttering slow
like a swan's feather
in spring-weather.
Down she came without damage:
Rosalind Ramage!

See also

• Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien