Classic Poem

To-day thou standest laureled before all,
Deep in the hearts of multitudes enshrined!
The soul of music hovers in thy mind,
And hastens on white pinions at thy call.

Thy great conceptions manifold enthrall,
And in the story of thy life we find
One flawless record gloriously signed,
And towers of strength that will not swerve or fall.

Whene'er thy strains are wafted to my ear.
Full of most subtle meaning, sweet and strong,
I see in dreams the Rhenish vales in bloom,
And with keen ravishment I seem to hear
The mighty genius of old German song
Sing to the stars beneath the Schwarzwald's gloom!