| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | III. The Opening of the Tomb of Charlemagne | | By Sir Aubrey de Vere (1788–1846) |
| | | AMID the cloistered 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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