Gandalf to Bilbo After the Council of Elrond
My dear Bilbo, you know it must be so;
The burden has moved on. It came to you
For one purpose alone, for him to go,
Full-knowing the darkness he must walk through,
To cast it down into the Cracks of Doom.
For you it was a treasure far too great.
And, taken once again, it would consume
You from within. Even now it still waits,
Subdued within these holy walls, to rise
Again and chain the neck on which it hangs,
And drag it to the dark where its lord lies.
Your task must be to stay, not hear the clang
Of blades, yet still bear the pangs of fear,
To plead the grace of Elbereth be near.

Elrond to Bilbo Upon Leaving for the Grey Havens
Dear, faithful tenant of my homely house,
Who melds the joys of Shire and Elven-home,
The time has come. The secret power aroused
Through you was raised ever to be cast down.
But its failing also begins the end
Of all things, foul and fair, wrought through the Rings
Of Power. Even this home I made to blend
The good of Middle Earth with holy things
Must pass. So, Ringfinder, the time has come
To taste new joys for which we long have ached.
The homely joys we leave, as such, are done,
But I perceive Illuvatar shall take
Up each reflected image of his face
And make anew a joyous, homely place.