The Diver, The Knight of Toggenburg & Other Ballads By Friedrich Schiller
Translation
Featured in New Lyre Summer 2022
The Diver (1797)
“Who dares enter this chasm of water,
Is there some brave knight or valiant youth?
Let him who can vanquish the frothing water
Bring me back my chalice as his proof.
As a prize, I'll happily grant this golden goblet
To he who takes up this perilous gauntlet.”
The king speaks, and hurls it from the height
Of the rising and dizzying cliffs.
Lying over the dark rolling sea,
The goblet flies to the mouth of Charybdis.
“Find one who is brave enough, who will
Fetch me that goblet, from the depths below.”
Knights and vassals gather ‘round him,
All carefully listen, but silent remain,
Gazing on the depths of the harrowing
Sea, darkly rolling in the blinding horizon.
Now the king once more his question bares
“Is there some brave knight who to these depths dares?"
