NOT ALL disgraced, in that Italian town,
The imperial German cowered beneath thine hand,
Alone indeed imperial Hildebrand,
And felt thy foot and Rome-s, and felt her frown
And thine, more strong and sovereign than his crown,
Though iron forged its blood-encrusted band.
But now the princely wielder of his land,
For hatred-s sake toward freedom, so bows down,
No strength is in the foot to spurn: its tread
Can bruise not now the proud submitted head:
But how much more abased, much lower brought low,
And more intolerably humiliated,
The neck submissive of the prosperous foe,
Than his whom scorn saw shuddering in the snow!
Bismarck At Canossa: Sonnets
Algernon Charles Swinburne
(1)
Poem topics: alone, freedom, snow, strength, head, crown, town, strong, german, sake, iron, beneath, thine, imperial, Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about Bismarck At Canossa: Sonnets poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne
Best Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne