Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, KING SVERRIR, by GRIMUR THORGRIMSSON THOMSEN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

KING SVERRIR, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The pope and prelate notwithstanding
Last Line: Wakeful was the life I led.
Subject(s): Sverrir, King Of Norway (1149-1202); Sverrir Sigurdsson


THE Pope and Prelate notwithstanding,
Listen to a king commanding:
Let my deathbed be the throne.
Crown'd I am, and none shall stay me,
Crown'd, till in the tomb ye lay me,
'Spite them all I reign alone.

Many were the hours of danger,
When I, famish'd and a stranger,
Trod a cold and distant shore;
But what were these to hours of anguish,
Banish'd for my home to languish,
All for fatherland I bore.

In my robes of state array me
When in death to rest ye lay me,
Bare my face alone shall be,
Vict'ry banner o'er me lying,
Serve the King as wings for flying
Onward to eternity.

Psalms it well behooves you singing,
And also set the bells a-ringing,
While in the mold ye make my bed.
One more boon I beg, however,
Blow the "Wakeful"* loud as ever,
Wakeful was the life I led.





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