''Lyre and Sword'' ( Ger., ''Leyer und Schwerdt''; modern spelling, ''Leier und Schwert'') is a collection of patriotic poetry by Theodor Körner (1791–1813), which first appeared posthumously in 1814, consisting mostly of poems from the last year of his life. The poet had taken part in the

German War of Liberation In the War of the Sixth Coalition () (December 1812 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation (), a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Sardinia, and a number of German ...

as a lieutenant in the

Lützow Free Corps Lützow Free Corps ( ) was a volunteer force of the Prussian army during the Napoleonic Wars. It was named after its commander, Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow. The Corpsmen were also widely known as the “''Lützower Jäger''“ or “''Schwa ...

and fell on August 26, 1813 near

Gadebusch Gadebusch () is a town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the district of Nordwestmecklenburg. Halfway between Lübeck, Schwerin and Wismar, it is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The town is known for two notable monuments: the ''Stadt ...

. The poems, some of them based on

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

folk-tunes, were originally sung to the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

or recited by the poet to his fellow soldiers. The influence of the first volume (

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

1814) published by the poet's father,

Christian Gottfried Körner Christian Gottfried Körner (2 July 1756 – 13 May 1831) was a German jurist. His home was a literary and musical salon, and he was a friend of Friedrich Schiller. Biography Born in Leipzig, he studied law at the University of Göttingen and at ...

, was increased by numerous new editions, as well as by musical settings of various individual poems such as " Lützow's Wild Chase", the "Cavalry Song", and the " Sword Song".

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...

used the title ''Lyre and Sword'' for a collection of four-part settings for men's chorus of several of the poems, Op. 42.
Leyer und Schwerdt, Op. 42 (Carl Maria von Weber)
' at th
Choral Wiki
Other poems such as "My Fatherland", the "Hunters' Song", and "Prayer During the Battle" were set by such composers as

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

Quotation

Notes

References

This article incorporates a translation from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

article '' Leyer und Schwerdt''. {{reflist

External links

* Theodor Körner: ''Leyer und Schwerdt. Von dem Vater des Dichters veranstaltete Ausgabe.'' Wien, 1814. (''Lyre and Sword. Edition set forth by the Poet's Father''. Vienna 1814.)
Digitalized
* Theodor Körner: ''Leyer und Schwerdt. Einzige rechtmäßige, von dem Vater des Dichters veranstaltete Ausgabe.'' (''Lyre and Sword. Fully corrected edition, set forth by the Poet's Father''. Nicolai, Berlin 1814.)
Digitalisat und Volltext
im Deutschen Textarchiv)
Digitalized from an 1815 edition.

Text at zeno.org
19th-century poems German poetry collections Napoleonic Wars in art Music of Germany 1814 poems