Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79. | | | | Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) | | The Tomb of Charlemagne | | Sir Aubrey de Vere (1788–1846) |
| | | AMID the torch-lit gloom of Aachen’s aisle | |
| Stood Otho, Germany’s imperial lord, | |
| Regarding, with a melancholy smile, | |
| A simple stone, where, fitly to record | |
| A world of action by a single word, | 5 |
| Was graven “Carlo-Magno.” Regal style | |
| Was needed none: that name such thoughts restored | |
| As sadden, yet make nobler men the while. | |
| They rolled the marble back: with sudden gasp | |
| A moment o’er the vault the kaiser bent, | 10 |
| Where still a mortal monarch seemed to reign. | |
| Crowned, on his throne, a sceptre in his grasp, | |
| Perfect in each gigantic lineament, | |
| Otho looked face to face on Charlemagne! | | | | |
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