Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
France: Vols. IX–X. 1876–79.
The Maid of Orleans
By Friedrich von Schiller (17591805)A
Through thee he seeks to desecrate and dim
Glory for which he hath no soul or vision,
For “God” and “Angel” are but sounds with him.
He makes the jewels of the heart his booty,
And scoffs at man’s belief and woman’s beauty.
Not from a kingly but a godly race,
Art crowned by Poesy! Amid the splendid
Of heaven’s high stars she builds thy dwelling-place,
Garlands thy temples with a wreath of glory,
And swathes thy memory in eternal story.
The fair defaced, the lofty in the dust;
Yet grieve not! There are godlike heads in being
Which worship still the beautiful and just.
Let Momus and his mummers please the crowd,
Of nobleness alone a noble mind is proud.