You & Me and the Cottage of Lost Play

You and Me and the Cottage of Lost Play was the title of the first version of a poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, written in April 1915 . It is also the earliest mention of the Cottage of Lost Play of Tolkien's earlier Middle-earth mythology - two years later, his tale The Cottage of Lost Play, which would become the first of the "Lost Tales", was finished.

After some renditions, this poem became The Little House of Lost Play: Mar Vanwa Tyaliéva, but the first version read as follows:

You and me - we know that land

And often have been there

In the long old days, old nursery days,

A dark child and a fair.

Was it down the paths of firelight dreams

In winter cold and white,

Or in the blue-spun twilit hours

Of little early tucked-up beds

In drowsy summer night,

That You and I got lost in Sleep

And met each other there -

Your dark hair on your white nightgown,

And mine was tangled fair?

We wandered shyly hand in hand,

Or rollicked in the fairy sand

And gathered pearls and shells in pails,

While all about the nightingales

Were singing in the trees.

We dug for silver with our spades

By little inland sparkling seas,

Then ran ashore through sleepy seas,

And down a warm and winding lane

And never never found again

Between high whispering trees.

The air was neither night or day,

But faintly dark with softest light,

When first there glimmered into sight The Cottage of Lost Play.

'Twas builded very very old

White, and thatched with straws of gold,

And pierced with peeping lattices

That looked toward the sea;

And our own children's garden-plots

Were there--our own forgetmenots,

Red daisies, cress and mustard,

And blue nemophile.

O! All the borders trimmed with box

Were full of favourite flowers - of phlox,

Of larkspur, pinks, and hollyhocks

Beneath a red may-tree:

And all the paths were full of shapes,

Of tumbling happy white-clad shapes,

And with them You and Me.

And some had silver watering-cans

And watered all their gowns,

Or sprayed each other; some laid plans

To build them houses, fairy towns,

Or dwellings in the trees;

And some were clambering on the roof;

Some crooning lonely and aloof;

And some were dancing fairy-rings

And weaving pearly daisy-strings,

Or chasing golden bees;

But here and there a little pair

With rosy cheeks and tangled hair

Debated quaint old childish things -

And we were one of these.

But why it was there came a time

When we could take the road no more,

Though long we looked, and high would climb,

Or gaze from many a seaward shore

To find the path between sea and sky

To those old gardens of delight;

And how it goes now in that land,

If there the house and gardens stand,

Still filled with children clad in white -

We know not, You and I.

And why it was Tomorrow came

And with his grey hand led us back;

And why we never found the same

Old cottage, or the magic track

That leads between a silver sea

And those old shores and gardens fair

Where all things are, that ever were -

We know not, You and Me.

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Jy en ek en die Kothuis van Verlore Speel
Albanian	Ju dhe Mua dhe Vilë e lojës së humbur
Arabic	أنت وأنا و الكوخ من اللعب لعب
Armenian	Դուք եւ ես՝ եւ է Կորցրել Խաղ Քոթեջ
Azerbaijani	Sən, mənimlə də Itirilmiş oyunun kotteci ?
Belarusian Cyrillic	Ты і я, і Страчанай гульня катэджу
Bengali	আপনি এবং আমার এবং লস্ট প্লে এর কুটির
Bosnian	Ti i ja i na Izgubljen Igra Vikendica
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Ти, аз и на Къща на изгубени игра
Catalan	Tu i Jo i la Casa de Perdida de Jugar
Cebuano	Ikaw ug Ako ug ang Payag sa Nawala nga Dula
Chinese	你和我和你失去的戏剧小屋
Croatian	Ti i ja i vikendica izgubljene igre
Czech	Ty a já a ten Chalupa ztracené hry
Danish	Dig og Mig og den Sommerhus af Tabt Spille
Dutch	Jij en Ik en de Huisje van Verloren Spelen
Esperanto	Vi kaj mi kaj la Feridomo de Perdita Ludado
Estonian	Sina ja mina ja Unustatud Mängida kotedž
Filipino	Ikaw at Ako at ang Maliit na Nawala ng Laro
Finnish	Sinä ja minä ja Menetetty pelata tupa ?
French	Toi et moi et le la Chaumière du Jeu Perdu
Georgian	შენ და მე და წაგებული თამაშის ქოხი
German	Du und Ich und der Hütte des Vergessenen Spiels
Greek	Εσύ και εγώ και το Εξοχικό σπίτι του χαμένο παιχνίδι
Gujarati	તમે અને મારા અને લોસ્ટ પ્લે કોટેજ
Hebrew	אתה ואני וה קוטג של משחק אבוד
Hindi	आप और मैं और खोया खेल कॉटेज
Hungarian	Te és én és a Tűnt játék kis háza
Icelandic	Þú og ég og Sumarbústaður af Týndur Leika
Indonesian	Anda dan Saya dan Pondok Permainan yang Hilang
Italian	Tu ed io e la Casetta del gioco Perduto
Japanese	あなたと私とロストプレイのコテージ
Kannada	ನೀವು ಮತ್ತು ಮಿ ಮತ್ತು ದಿ ಸೋತರು ಪ್ಲೇ ಕಾಟೇಜ್
Korean	너와 나 그리고 잃어버린 놀이의 오두막
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Сен жана Мен жана Жоголгон ойноо коттедж
Laotian	ທ່ານແລະຂ້ອຍແລະທ່ານກະທ່ອມຂອງການສູນເສຍຫຼິ້ນ ?
Latvian	Jūs un Mani un uz Zaudēja spēles kotedža
Lithuanian	Jūs ir Aš ir Prarastas Žaidimas kotedžas
Luxembourgish	Dir an Mech an der Kleng haus vun Verluer spillt
Macedonian Cyrillic	Ти и Мене и на Вила на Изгубена Игра
Maltese	Int u jiena u Il-dwejra ta ' Mitlufa Tilgħab
Marathi	आपण आणि मी आणि गमावलेला प्ले कॉटेज
Mongolian Cyrillic	Та болон би болон Алдагдсан тоглолтын зуслангийн байшин
Norwegian	Du og Meg og den Hytte av Tapt Spill
Persian	شما و من و کلبه بازی از دست رفته
Polish	Ty Ja i ja Chata Utraconej Zabawy
Portuguese	Você e Eu e o Casa de campo do jogo perdido
Punjabi	ਤੁਸੀਂ ਅਤੇ ਮੈਂ ਅਤੇ ਨੂੰ ਲੌਸਟ ਪਲੇ ਦੇ ਕੋਟੇਜ
Romanian	Tu și cu mine și cu Căsuță de Joacă Pierdută
Russian	Вы и я, и Хижина утраченной игры
Sinhalese	ඔබ සහ මා සහ අහිමි නාට්ය ගෘහය
Slovak	Ty a ja a Chalúpka stratené hry
Slovenian	Ti in jaz ter na Koči izgubljene igre
Spanish	Tu y Yo y la Cabaña del juego perdido
Swedish	Du och Mig och den Stuga av Förlorad Pjäs
Tamil	நீயும் நானும் அந்த லாஸ்ட் ப்ளேயின் குடிசை
Thai	คุณและฉันและกระท่อมแห่งการเล่นที่หายไป
Turkish	Sen ve ben ve Kayıp oyun kır evi
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Ти і я і Хижа втраченої гри
Uzbek	Сиз ва мен ва Йўқотилган ўйин уйи (Cyrillic) Siz va men va Yo'qotilgan o'yin uyi (Latin)
Urdu	آپ کو اور مجھے اور کھو کھیل کا کاٹیج
Vietnamese	Bạn và Tôi và các Mất Nhà ở miền quê của chơi
Yiddish	איר און מיר און די הייַזקע פון לאָסט שפּיל