Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Margarete Münsterberg, ed., trans. A Harvest of German Verse. 1916.

By Schiller’s Burial

Konrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825–1898)

TWO dim and paltry torches that the raging storm

And rain at any moment threaten to put out,

A waving pall. A vulgar coffin made of pine

With not a wreath, not e’en the poorest, and no train—

As if a crime were swiftly carried to the grave!

The bearers hastened onward. One unknown alone,

Round whom a mantle waved of wide and noble fold,

Followed this coffin. ’Twas the Spirit of Mankind.