Classic Poem

The Palsgravine Jutta crossed over the Rhine;
She steered her skiff by the pale moonshine;
A maiden rowed, and the Countess said,
" Dost see those seven men wan and dead —
Seven bodies afloat
Behind our boat? —
How drearily drift the corpses! "

" Young knights were they, who loved me well,
And, sighing soft, on my bosom fell.
They vowed to be true to their dying day,
And, that none might his vow and his troth betray,
I had them bound
And straightway drowned —
How drearily drift the corpses! "

The Countess laughs, and the maiden rows,
How the scornful laughter echoing goes!
The dead men rear to their middle, and raise
Their hands and swear to Heaven, and gaze
With a glassy eye,
And beckon and sigh —
How drearily drift the corpses!