Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79. | | | | Miscellaneous | | The Two Coffins | | Andreas Justinus Kerner (1786–1862) |
| | Translated by H. W. Dulcken
AWAY in the old cathedral | |
| Two coffins stand alone; | |
| In one of them sleeps King Ottmar, | |
| And the singer rests in one. | |
| |
| The king sat once in power, | 5 |
| High throned in his father’s land; | |
| The crown still graces his temples, | |
| The falchion his kingly hand. | |
| |
| But near the proud king the singer | |
| Is peacefully sleeping on, | 10 |
| In his lifeless hand still clasping | |
| The harp of the pious tone. | |
| |
| The castles around are falling, | |
| The war-cry rings through the land, | |
| The sword, it stirreth never | 15 |
| There in the dead king’s hand. | |
| |
| Blossoms and vernal breezes | |
| Are floating the vale along, | |
| And the singer’s harp is sounding | |
| In never-ending song. | 20 | | | |
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