 | Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy |  |
133
AT THE SCHWABIS
THUN
Beyond the walls that Berchtold's chivalry
Built up against Burgundian hate and pride,
Rolls the blue Aar in swift impetuous tide
To meet all foes with exultation free;
And whosoe'er its careless strength may see
Takes heart, and ceases to be satisfied
With his world's narrow limit, goes outside
His city walls against all foes that be.
Built up against Burgundian hate and pride,
Rolls the blue Aar in swift impetuous tide
To meet all foes with exultation free;
And whosoe'er its careless strength may see
Takes heart, and ceases to be satisfied
With his world's narrow limit, goes outside
His city walls against all foes that be.
Sure of its course, the river, rolled along,
Slides down, and shakes its thousand plumes of snow,
And curved to sapphire, thunders at the fall:
So the brave heart beyond the city wall,
If but life's continuity it know—
Its whence, its whither—falls, but still is strong.
Slides down, and shakes its thousand plumes of snow,
And curved to sapphire, thunders at the fall:
So the brave heart beyond the city wall,
If but life's continuity it know—
Its whence, its whither—falls, but still is strong.
| Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy | |