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I sit beside the fire and think,
   of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
   in summers that have been;

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
   in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
   and wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think
   of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
   that I shall never see.

For still there are so many things
   that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
   there is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think
   of people long ago,
and people who will see a world
    that I will never know.

But all the while I sit and think
   of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
   and voices at the door.

                                   ~ Bilbo Baggins
The Fellowship of the Ring, 364-65

Bilbo

Pete Enns, Ph.D.

Peter Enns (Ph.D., Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of biblical studies at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. He has written numerous books, including The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, and How the Bible Actually Works. Tweets at @peteenns.