| Margarete Münsterberg, ed., trans. A Harvest of German Verse. 1916. | | | | Schiller’s Burial | | By 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! | 5 |
| 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. | | | | |
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