Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MARGARET'S SONG, FR. FAUST, by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MARGARET'S SONG, FR. FAUST, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In thule lived a monarch old
Last Line: One drop again till death!
Subject(s): Cups; Death; Gifts & Giving; Dead, The


In Thule lived a monarch old,
True even to the grave,
To whom a goblet, wrought of gold,
His dying leman gave.

And naught more richly did he prize,
At every feast 'twas drained;
And often, as he quaffed, his eyes
With tears o'erbrimming rained.

And when his death drew nigh, with care
He counts his cities up;
No wealth begrudging to his heir,
Except the golden cup.

A solemn feast he held, with all
His Knights as company;
'Twas in his proud, ancestral hall
That hung above the sea.

There stood that king-carouser old
His last life-draught to drain,
Then hurled the treasured cup of gold
Far down into the main.

He saw it splash: it filled, it sank,
Deep, deep the waves beneath;
With downcast eyes he watched, nor drank
One drop again till death!





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