Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.
The Cathedral of Cologne
By Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866)C
Memorial of eld,
When German art excelled,
Long grown with age so gray,
Unfinished till this day.
Cathedral of Cologne!
He who thy plan conceived
Died ere it was achieved,
And none to build the rest
Have e’er their strength confessed,
Cathedral of Cologne!
The German sun declined
The hill of time behind;
Who thought, in such dark hours,
Of raising thy proud towers,
Cathedral of Cologne!
The master’s sketch and plan
Lay hid from human scan;
But lately from the night
The plan was brought to light,
Cathedral of Cologne!
In vain was not revealed
The plan that lay concealed;
And loud to us it cries,
“Thy towers shall arise,
Cathedral of Cologne!”