Classic and Contemporary Poetry
AT THE VILLA OF THE EMPEROR FREDERICK III AT SAN REMO, by JOHN LAWSON STODDARD Poet's Biography First Line: San remo's palms in beauty stand / beside the storied sea Last Line: The long waves ebb and flow. Subject(s): Death; Germany; Love; Peace; Dead, The; Germans | ||||||||
San Remo's palms in beauty stand Beside the storied sea, Where azure band and golden sand Are wedded ceaselessly; For from the deep, which seems to sleep, The slow waves, long and low, Their journeys done, break one by one In rhythmic ebb and flow. Before me lies a fair retreat, Whose every breath brings balm From plants replete with odors sweet And many a fronded palm; Hence at its gate I, spellbound, wait To feast my gladdened eyes On buds that wake and flowers that make A perfumed paradise. Alas, that love could not avail To guard this sweet repose! That strength should fail, and life prove frail And fleeting as the rose! So fair! and yet, who can forget The heir to Prussia's throne, Who here fought death with labored breath, And faced the great Unknown? O Spirit of the Fatherland, O love that changeth not, Thy filial hand hath made this strand A consecrated spot; For on the wall, where roses fall, Bronze words recall his fate, -- A sceptre won . . . when life was done, An empire gained . . . too late! "Halt, wanderer from a German shore!" (Thus runs the sad refrain,) "Here dwelt thine Emperor, here he bore With fortitude his pain; Hear'st thou the lone, low monotone Of billows tempest-tossed? In that long roll the German soul Still mourns for him she lost." San Remo's stately palms still rise Beside the storied shore; But he now lies 'neath northern skies, At peace forevermore, In that calm, deep, untroubled sleep, Whose secret none may know, While, one by one, -- their courses run, -- The long waves ebb and flow. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A GERMAN REQUIEM by JAMES FENTON THE BARON'S LAST BANQUET by ALBERT GORTON GREENE THE BOOK OF YOLEK by ANTHONY HECHT MEN AND BOYS by KARL THEODORE KORNER BINGEN ON THE RHINE by CAROLINE ELIZABETH SARAH SHERIDAN NORTON KATHE KOLLWITZ by MURIEL RUKEYSER TO GERMANY by CHARLES HAMILTON SORLEY A MAY MONODY by JOHN LAWSON STODDARD |
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