LEOPOLD, DUKE OF BRUNSWICK.

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

LEOPOLD, DUKE OF BRUNSWICK.

[Written on the occasion of the death, by drowning,
of the Prince.]

THOU wert forcibly seized by the hoary lord of the river,--

Holding thee, ever he shares with thee his streaming domain,
Calmly sleepest thou near his urn as it silently trickles,

Till thou to action art roused, waked by the swift-rolling flood.
Kindly be to the people, as when thou still wert a mortal,

Perfecting that as a god, which thou didst fail in, as man.

1785.





Last updated May 02, 2015