Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AND BARBARROSSA SLEEPS, by WILLIAM A. PHELON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AND BARBARROSSA SLEEPS, by                    
First Line: Defeat and death the germans knew
Last Line: Unmoved, shall barbarossa sleep!
Subject(s): Germany; Legends; World War I; Germans; First World War


(For centuries it has been believed in Germany that the great Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa has slept, since the year 1189, in the heart of a mountain,
whence he will some day rise at the call of his nation.)

DEFEAT and death the Germans knew,
The roar of cannon closer drew—
The shattered Guard, the beaten line,
Reeled backward to the castled Rhine—
The clamor strikes the ancient keep
That veils grim Barbarossa's sleep—
Hark to the calls, the anguished cries:
"Why does not Barbarossa rise?
Thy sons are conquered and at bay—
Come to their aid—come, save the day!
Thy great sword, gleaming in the van
Could save us when no other can!
Wake from thy slumbers long and deep,
Rise from thy centuries of sleep—
Keep the great pledge of long ago—
Up—and hurl back the thronging foe!"
They kneel and listen—but no word
Comes from the tomb—no sound is heard!
The woe of Germany's torn breast
Wake not the hero from his rest—
The hostile vanguard closer crept,
And Barbarossa silent slept.
Why should he rise? The legend told
How Barbarossa's heart of gold
Would only throb to aid the cause
Of honor and of God's just laws!
Would Barbarossa lift his head
To help the wolves that Wilhelm led?
A chastened Germany, some time,
Guilty of tyranny and crime,
Brave, battling 'gainst an unjust doom,
May call the warrior from his tomb—
Till then, 'mid silence long and deep,
Unmoved, shall Barbarossa sleep!





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