Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE WREATHS, by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE Poet's Biography First Line: Our german klopstock, if he had his will Last Line: That were at once their glory and their pang! Subject(s): Graves; Poetry & Poets; Tombs; Tombstones | ||||||||
OUR German Klopstock, if he had his will, Would bar us from the skirts of Pindus old. No more the classic laurel should be prized, But the rough leaflets of our native oak Alone should glisten in the poet's hair; Yet did himself, with spirit unreclaim'd From first allegiance to those early Gods, Lead up to Golgotha's most awful height With more than epic pomp the new Crusade. But let him range the bright angelic host On either hill -- no matter. By his grave All gentle hearts should bow them down and weep. For where a hero and a saint have died, Or where a poet sang prophetical, Dying as greatly as they greatly lived, To give memorial to all after times, Of lofty worth and courage undismay'd; There, in mute reverence, all devoutly kneel, In homage of the thorn and laurel wreath, That were at once their glory and their pang! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SURVIVOR AMONG GRAVES by RANDALL JARRELL SUBJECTED EARTH by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE GRAVE OF MRS. HEMANS by CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER THOSE GRAVES IN ROME by LARRY LEVIS NOT TO BE DWELLED ON by HEATHER MCHUGH ONE LAST DRAW OF THE PIPE by PAUL MULDOON ETRUSCAN TOMB by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS ENDING WITH A LINE FROM LEAR by MARVIN BELL 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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