Friedrich Schiller - Schiller's Burial

Schiller's Burial

A poem written about the poet's burial:

Two dim and paltry torches that the raging storm

And rain at any moment threaten to put out.

A waving pall. A vulgar coffin made of pine

With not a wreath, not e'en the poorest, and no train –

As if a crime were swiftly carried to the grave!

The bearers hastened onward. One unknown alone,

Round whom a mantle waved of wide and noble fold,

Followed this coffin. 'Twas the Spirit of Mankind.

– Conrad Ferdinand Meyer