Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.
The Knights Leap
By Charles Kingsley (18191875)“S
And the water is spent and done;
Then bring me a cup of the red Ahr-wine;
I never shall drink but this one.
And lead him me round to the door:
He must take such a leap to-night perforce
As horse never took before.
And if I must die on tree,
The old saddle-tree, which has borne me of yore,
Is the properest timber for me.
I have drunk my share of wine;
From Trier to Cöln there was never a knight
Led a merrier life than mine.
How the Altenahr hawk can die,
If they smoke the old falcon out of his nest,
He must take to his wings and fly.”
And he mounted his horse at the door,
And he drained such a cup of the red Ahr-wine
As never man drained before.
And he leapt him out over the wall;
Out over the cliff, out into the night,
Three hundred feet of fall.
And never a bone in him whole;
But Heaven may yet have more mercy than men
On such a bold rider’s soul.