| James and Mary Ford, eds. Every Day in the Year. 1902. | | | | June 15 | | Frederick III | | By Ina D. Coolbrith (1841–1928) |
| | | | Emperor of Germany, died June 15, 1888. |
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THERE fell a King. Not King alone in blood, | |
| Nor royal throne, by right of which he reigned, | |
| But by the royalty of soul unstained, | |
| And heart that beat but for his people’s good. | |
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| A warrior, yet beyond the battlefield | 5 |
| The larger victories of peace he saw: | |
| His life a pledge to freedom, progress, law, | |
| Most patient suffering divinely sealed. | |
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| There fell a King. Nay, there a king arose. | |
| Stars do not set in night, though night goes down; | 10 |
| Steadfast they gleam in heaven’s eternal crown, | |
| Though days in nights, and nights in days may close. | |
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| “Lord of himself,”—that greatest conqueror,— | |
| No nobler form in all his royal house. | |
| Dead, the imperial crown still sits his brows, | 15 |
| And past the grave he still is emperor. | | | |
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