Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Switzerland and Austria: Vol. XVI. 1876–79.

Switzerland: Payerne

Queen Bertha

By Philippe-Sirice Bridel (1757–1845)

Anonymous translation

THY name is ever blest,

Thy memory ever fair,

And peaceful be thy sainted rest,

Beloved queen! in earth’s cold breast

As in our hearts,—for thou art there!

With thine own hand thou didst the spindle guide!

Thy royal hand, that oft a sceptre bore.

Instructress of the hamlet! and the pride

And solace of the city: yet not more

A model for the great ones of the earth

Than for the dwellers round the poor man’s hearth!

Ah! who that reads the tale of days gone by

But loves to turn,—yet turns with half a sigh

Back to the good old times, the golden age

When first thy name sheds brightness o’er the page!

Times full of teaching for those yet to run,

When Bertha on her palfrey rode and spun.

Thy name is ever blest,

Thy memory ever fair,

And peaceful be thy sainted rest,

Beloved queen! in earth’s cold breast

As in our hearts,—for thou art there!