Leopold, Duke Of Brunswick.

written by


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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.

© Johann Wolfgang von Goethe