and where tears are the very wine of blessedness

heaven and earth, nothing can make me cry like hobbits do. It starts so terribly easily. And it's like the tears start from all the way down, but they somehow don't really hurt, and after crying them I feel clean and worn smooth.

I feel bad, sometimes, teaching these summer classes on Fellowship, because I'm not giving my poor students any warning as to the heartbreak that lies ahead for them, should they choose to finish the work. I haven't told them yet that it's the saddest story in the world.