Yet another quote that wasn't

[Evisse the Blue]

You are correct, sir!

[HerenIstarion]

on we go, than

Green they were and pleasant, and now lie bare and empty, and no merry sound stirs this dreadful silence

[Evisse the Blue]

Tom Bombadil about the barrows?

[HerenIstarion]

Nope

I'm going to become self-plagiarist with reagard to hints. So the hint runs again as:

Hum, in terms of time and space, it was a lot earlier and a lot to the East

[radagastly]

If I may venture a guess . . .
It may be Thorin from The Hobbit speaking of the desolation of Smaug as they approached the Lonely Mountain in the chapter "On the Doorstep".

The land about them grew bleak and barren, though once, as Thorin told them, it had been green and fair.

"Green they were and pleasant, and now lie bare and empty, and no merry sound stirs this dreadful silence."

[HerenIstarion]

It's not a ten mark, but nine and a half for sure . Try to narrow it just a bit (Non existent quotes are usually extensions of direct quotes)

[radagastly]

Then perhaps it's Balin, from the next page:

"There lies all that is left of Dale," said Balin. "The mountain's sides were green with woods and all the sheltered valley rich and pleasant in the days when the bells rang in that town"

"Green they were and pleasant, and now lie bare and empty, and no merry sound stirs this dreadful silence."

Is that what you had in mind?