Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ATTA TROLL; A SUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM: CAPUT 24, by HEINRICH HEINE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ATTA TROLL; A SUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM: CAPUT 24, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the vale of ronceval
Last Line: "talentless; a character!"
Subject(s): Death; Dead, The


IN the vale of Ronceval
On the very spot where whilome
Charlemagne's unhappy nephew
To the foe his life surrender'd,

There, too, fell poor Atta Troll,
And he fell by cunning, like him
Whom the base equestrian Judas,
Ganelon of Mainz, betrayed.

Ah! that noblest bear's-emotion,
Namely his uxorious feelings,
Was a snare which old Uraca
Cunningly avail'd herself of.

She the growl of swarthy Mumma
Copied with such great perfection,
That poor Atta Troll was tempted
Out of his secure bear's-cavern.

On the wings of yearning ran he
Through the vale, -- oft stood he, gently
Snuffing at a rock in silence,
Thinking Mumma was conceal'd there.

Ah! conceal'd there was Lascaro
With his musket, and he shot him
Through the middle of his heart, whence
Gush'd a ruddy stream of blood.

Once or twice his head he waggled,
But at last with heavy groaning
Fell he down, and wildly gasp'd he,
And his latest sigh was -- "Mumma."

Thus the noble hero fell;
Thus he died. And yet immortal
Will he in the poet's numbers
After death arise in glory.

Yes, he'll rise again in numbers,
And his glory, grown colossal,
On four-footed solemn trochees
O'er the face of earth stride proudly.

And his tomb Bavaria's monarch
Will erect in the Walhalla,
Writing on it this inscription,
In true lapidary style:

"Atta Troll; a bear of impulse;
"Devotee; a loving husband;
"Full of sans-culottic notions,
"Thanks to the prevailing fashion.

"Wretched dancer; strong opinions
"Bearing in his shaggy bosom;
"Often stinking very badly;
"Talentless; a character!"





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