Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE KING OF THULE, by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE Poet's Biography First Line: Oh! True was his heart while he breathed Last Line: Nor drop did he ever drink more. Subject(s): Death; Dead, The | ||||||||
OH! true was his heart while he breathèd That King over Thulé of old, So she that adored him bequeathèd Him, dying, a beaker of gold. At banquet and supper for years has He brimmingly filled it up, His eyes overflowing with tears as He drank from that beaker-cup. When Death came to wither his pleasures He parceled his cities wide, His castles, his lands, and his treasures, But the beaker he laid aside. They drank the red wine from the chalice. His barons and marshals brave; The monarch sat in his rock-palace Above the white foam of the wave. And now, growing weaker and weaker He quaffed his last Welcome to Death, And hurled the golden beaker Down into the flood beneath. He saw it winking and sinking, And drinking the foam so hoar; The light from his eyes was shrinking, Nor drop did he ever drink more. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND A SONG FROM THE COPTIC by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE FAUST: SCENE 1. PROLOGUE IN HEAVEN by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE |
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