Thoughts on "The Sea Bell"

[Elbereth Gilthoniel]

In The Adventures of Tom Bombadil there is an beautiful and haunting poem, The Sea Bell. Apparently Tolkien thought it his worst poem in the collection, though it's my favourite by far. It's subtitled Frodo's Dreme and apparently this was penned by an anonymous hobbit (maybe Frodo himself, maybe Sam, maybe an inheritor of the Red Book of Westmarch as some sort of fanfic), and is based on Frodo's nightmares in the period from his return to the Shire to his departure to the Undying Lands. I can't tell, though, why Tolkien thought The Sea Bell was his worst poem. It is very well-written and beautiful. To those who read it, what are your thoughts on it?

 

[Eldacar]

I am not a real friend of poetry, not even the professors, so my judgement isn't worth a lot. I just read it and thought it to be okay, and I am pretty sure I've read poems in the Lord of the Rings that were worse. However, while I was searching for the poem and checking some background Information, I stumbled upon a passage in one of his letters that make me doubt that he even considered it to be a bad poem, even less his worst.

"I was greatly cheered not only by your pleasure in having an Old English poem (I thought this would be appropriate) but also by your praise of Frodo’s Dreme. That really made me wag my tail." (Letter 295 To W. H. Auden)

This doesn't sound like an author who disproves of his work. More like someone who published something niche and is glad it is admired by others. At least to me, it does. Where do you have your information from that he considered this poem his worst?

 

[Elbereth Gilthoniel]

"I was greatly cheered not only by your pleasure in having an Old English poem (I thought this would be appropriate) but also by your praise of Frodo’s Dreme. That really made me wag my tail." (Letter 295 To W. H. Auden)

I love Tolkien's expressions 😂 To me this sounds like he's happy that at least somebody enjoyed The Sea Bell.

Where do you have your information from that he considered this poem his worst?

From the commentary on The Sea Bell in my HarperCollins 2014 edition of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. It references two quotes from Tolkien's letters. This first is to Pauline Baynes, whom he commissioned to illustrate Tom Bombadil,

"If I dare say so, the things sent to you (except the Sea-bell, the poorest, and not one that I should really wish to include, at least not with the others)..." (6 December 1961, Letters p. 312)

This is a direct quote from the commentary,

"In correspondence with Rayer Unwin [Tolkien] described [The Sea Bell] as "the vaguer, more subjective, and least successful piece." " (8 December 1961, A&U archive; Reader's Guide, p. 26)