Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79.

Introductory to Sweden

The Veteran

By Esaias Tegnér (1782–1846)

Anonymous translation

I LOVE the old heroic times

Of Charles the Twelfth, our country’s glory,

And deem them fittest for the scenes

Of stern or tender story;

For he was blithe as Peace may be,

Yet boisterous as Victory.

Even now, on high, there glide,

Up and down, at eventide,

Mighty men, like those of old,

With frocks of blue and belts of gold.

O, reverently I gaze upon

Those soldier spirits clad in light,

And hold as things most wonderful

Their coats of buff and swords of giant height.

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