Poems (Hooper)/The King of Thulé
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THE KING OF THULÉ.
Es war ein König in Thulé.
There was a king in Thulé,
True even to the grave,
To whom his loved one, dying,
A golden goblet gave.
True even to the grave,
To whom his loved one, dying,
A golden goblet gave.
He held naught else so precious,
Naught else so safely kept;
At every feast he drained it,
And as he drank he wept.
Naught else so safely kept;
At every feast he drained it,
And as he drank he wept.
And, dying, all his cities
And wealth he counted up;
His realms he gave up freely;
Not so the treasured cup.
And wealth he counted up;
His realms he gave up freely;
Not so the treasured cup.
He called his knights around him
A kingly feast he gave
In yon ancestral palace,
High up above the wave.
A kingly feast he gave
In yon ancestral palace,
High up above the wave.
Up rose the old carouser,
One last long draught drank he;
Then flung the hallowed goblet
Far down into the sea.
One last long draught drank he;
Then flung the hallowed goblet
Far down into the sea.
He saw it falling, filling,
And sinking in the main;
Then closed his eyes forever;
He never drank again.
Goethe.
And sinking in the main;
Then closed his eyes forever;
He never drank again.
Goethe.