Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.
The Lord of the Sea
By Karl Gottfried von Leitner (18001890)B
With sceptre and with crown,
King Knut, in pomp of purple,
Upon his throne sits down,
The billows loudly roaring.
Await his nod, but he
Peers out with frowning eyebrows
Upon the boundless sea,
The billows loudly roaring.
The haughty, gray-haired Dane,
Tamer of England’s people,
Flings back his lion-mane;
The billows loudly roaring.
To the blue Baltic’s brine,
From Thule to Southampton,
The world,” he cried, “is mine!”
The billows loudly roaring.
White-crested old sea-wave!
Shalt henceforth pay me tribute,
And be my faithful slave!”
The billows loudly roaring.
Flung up its sparkling spray,
And spat upon his beard there,
As if in scornful play,
The billows loudly roaring.
And flung it in the sea,
Crying, “Man’s might is idle!
To God all glory be!”
The billows loudly roaring.