God knows literary style was not Professor Tolkien's strong suit. Happily I
read for story rather than style - probably why I can't stand modern lit - and
the Professor was an extraordinary storyteller. However I agree his poetry is
pretty abyssmal. The one volumn of 'History of Middle Earth' I do not posses is
'Lays of Beleriand' with all his narrative poems! Being an incurable nerd I
just *LOVE* the appendices and footnotes with which Tolkien and Son dot their
work, like the dedicated academics they are.

Like the Scotsman said: "If everybody liked the same things think of what
a shortage there'd be of oatmeal!"