Walter Von Der Vogelweid
Vogelweid is buried in a cloister at Wurtzburg and leaves his treasures to the monks so that birds, whom he credits with teaching him song, will be fed daily at his tomb. The choir children fulfill his wish until the abbot redirects the food to the monks. Though the tomb inscriptions fade, the birds continue to carry the poet's name and legend in their song.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Literary Tribute · 467 words
First lines
Vogelweid the Minnesinger, / When he left this world of ours, / Laid his body in the cloister, / Under Wurtzburg's minster towers.
And he gave the monks his treasures, / Gave them all with this behest: / They should feed the birds at noontide / Daily on his place of rest;
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — Rhymed quatrains recount the poet's bequest, its fulfillment, the abbot's diversion of the food, and the birds' continuing remembrance.
- Literary Tribute — The closing stanzas preserve the singer's name through birdsong even after the inscriptions on the funeral stones have faded.
Tags
birds · minnesingers · bequests · monasteries · birdsong · remembrance
What this Textopian page supports
Walter Von Der Vogelweid is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Narrative Poetry, Literary Tribute
- Length: 467 words
- Structure: 1 section, 13 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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