Of the poem "sung" by Aragorn and Legolas at the end of "The Departure of
Boromir"
'O Boromir! From the high walls westward I looked afar
But you cam not from the empty lands where no men are'
---
'O Boromir Beyond the gate the seaward road runs south,
But you came not with the wailing gulls from the grey sea's mouth'
----
'O Boromir! The Tower of Guard shall ever northward gaze
To Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, until the end of days.'
The apostrophe (O Boromir) is a common trope to elegy since, in a dramatic
sense, it calls forth the image of the dead so that it can once more interact
with the living. It does seem appropriate for Faramir to conjur his dead
brother for that last conversation--to ask all those unanswered questions. But
by its very nature such a call suggests high drama, and belongs in that
suitable language. At least that was my take (probably just too many years of
studying dramatic monologues in
poetry)
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...each of us is an allegory, embodying in a particular tale and clothed in the garments of time and place, universal truth and everlasting life. (Letters, 163)
