Ha! Victor prince, sovereign of all the world,
what was that stone to you? A feather in the wind.
What are the world’s great structures in the face of Heaven’s power?
What is a patch of earth to Him who holds the world?
Can He who turns the sun-wheel not turn the stone as well?
(By choice and chance—not from necessity—
an angel happened by and swiftly rolled the stone away.)
Christ could transform the tomb into sheer air or sky.
If Pharos, Rhodes, Memphis, all ancient wonders,
great Tiber’s city, Babylon, and Atlas should stand
at once upon his grave, his strength would be enough
to blow them all away with just one breath.
He buries in his grave the whole world’s sin
and wills that everyone should live with him.
Click here to read this sonnet in the original German. [This link connects to a different site than the one we used for last week’s sonnet.You’ll have to scroll down past the information about the source collection to get to the poem.]