“The Lonely Isle,” suggests his deep sadness as his familiar world slipped further and further from sight: Down the great wastes and in gloom apart I long for thee and thy fair citadel. Where echoing through the lighted elms at eve In a high inland tower there peals a bell: O lonely, sparkling isle, farewell!11 It is easy to imagine Tolkien, the untested soldier, drawing on this moment of separation when he described scenes of parting in The Lord of the Rings. Recall Frodo’s dark realization as he prepares to leave the Shire: “This would mean exile, a flight from danger to danger, drawing it
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